


Is it Better to be Left Behind?

by myidiotclintbarton



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Aunt Peggy Carter, BAMF Avengers, BAMF Peggy Carter, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Irondad, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker-centric, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Time Travel, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark-centric, a hit piece on Howard Stark, an AU of IW that starts diverging after the first 10 mins, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-05-29 18:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15079370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myidiotclintbarton/pseuds/myidiotclintbarton
Summary: While planning defending the world from Thanos and how to stop his plan, a small group of superheroes are taken by a portal into the arms of S.H.I.E.L.D. The S.H.I.E.L.D. of 1989 that is.





	1. 1989

The Avengers were having another meeting about the coming end of the world with the addition of a few more fighters for good measure. A new threat was upon them and the rest of the universe this time. Bruce had brought word of a mad titan known as Thanos who was hunting for the infinity stones, two of which were on earth, another two in his possession and the last two that could easily be within his grasp to their knowledge. They were already down a few members, especially one of their heavy hitters, Thor, who Bruce sorrowfully believed to be dead by the hands of said threat. The remaining Avengers could only hope that they had others that were willing to fight alongside them.

  


The Avengers were all able to congregate in Wakanda’s royal palace after Tony had gotten up the courage to call Steve for help. They had been gathering information and shooting out plans to defeat this enemy and Tony and Steve had uncomfortably had to bear standing next to one another, each with another hero as comfort to organize said assault. It was then that the congregation of heroes was interrupted by a rumbling lightshow of a portal that had blinded them all before taking with it a group of heroes from the meeting. The portal opened up somewhere spacious and cold, dumping the separated group god knows where. A few moments of complete disorientation later, the now displaced group of heroes able to finally make out the words being shouted at them, each of them getting to their feet, ready for a fight. What they were met with was the trained eyes of about twenty or more armed agents. Those of which wearing security gear were each sporting an emblem on their right shoulder and those patches were a dead ringer for the retro S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem. That only increased Steve’s worry about what was happening as his stomach dropped. Before he could communicate this to any of his companions his thoughts were cut off by another, albeit now clearer voice in the room.

  


“What on earth? What’s going on? This was supposed to be a routine visit for me, Director Carter. What is this?” a familiar voice sounded, missing the coy wit and charm that Steve knew though it retained the rigid, no nonsense, edging grit that Tony knew almost too well. Steve's disoriented mind was still too stunned to clearly make out those in the room, though he did think he heard Tony's armor if possible grow tense.

  


“Kid, get behind me,” a very serious Iron Man hushed out, pushing Spider-Man behind him, as though to protect him from the glares of the large assortment of gunmen. Spider-Man, with the glowing white eyes of his mask wide open, complied, thankfully, to the metal encased man, though he did attempt to get into his own defensive stance. However, he didn’t stop jerking his head around, clearly uneasy with not knowing where they were.

  


“What the actual hell,” the Winter Soldier now White Wolf grinded through his teeth, his mind now clear enough to be able to take in his surroundings.

  


“Identify yourselves.” Steve perked up, a bit weary of an all too familiar and confident voice speaking up that moved through the air with a certain British lilt to it. He could never forget that voice, the same one coloring the orders barked his way. “I will ask one more time before we detain you with use of force.” Perhaps it was the slightest bit more husky and weary than he knew before.

  


“Look, we have an explanation. Right?” The youngest in their ensemble looked over to Tony, encased in his new nano armor. Of course it was Spider-Man who panicked next to Steve, hands raised at the sight of agents pointing guns at them. That and he still had his lumpy and dulled forest green backpack on, one of the JanSport ones that kids would take to school, not one to hold artillery or high tech weapons in. Steve was beginning to worry about how young this guy really was but before he could get to that, he knew he had to focus on the situation at hand. Steve held up his hands looking the most earnest he could.

  


Steve started by addressing the group of suspicious operatives, “we’re not here to do any harm, I swear.” 

  


“You say that while you managed to break into our highly secure facility with that portal of yours. I won’t say it again. Identify yourselves before we use force,” Peggy shot right back as the light portal began to gradually fade. Now that Steve could see, plain as day and standing tall in the middle of the room with the commanding presence of any military leader was Peggy Carter. She looked older than he had seen her before the ice, her hair gray and skin wrinkled, but still younger than she was when he woke up. She was competent, in charge of her own faculties and so very alive.

  


“She’s sure as hell not going to believe us,” came the voice of the brunet super soldier by his side. Bucky was gripping onto his weapon, eyes scouring their surroundings, clearly on high alert like a feral animal petrified by being caged.

  


“I don’t think we’ve got a choice, Buck.” Steve stepped forward as a rushing noise sounded behind him. The light behind them finally ceased completely to be before Steve could turn around to watch it go, leaving the heroes behind in a room full of armed personnel. The light that was behind the heroes must have been obscuring their features but now with their faces no longer eclipsed, the assembled crowd could now see their unwanted guests in finer detail. Steve barely had the time to process the odd twitches in the placated professional looks of many of the agents. He needed to explain now.

  


“I am Steve Rogers. I am not here to fight you,” his eyes were trained on Peggy’s who’s hands wavered a bit, as if to wonder if it was true. It was now that he remembered how different he must look, a beard grown out and a clearly worn uniform on. One that was missing the white star in the center of his chest but it’s colors and general pattern should have been no less recognizable to those in front of him. Especially her.

  


“Prove it. Prove you mean no harm,” she commanded as elegant and strong as she had ever been. Steve took it upon himself to remove his arm bound shield gauntlets that T’Challa’s sister, Shuri had provided for him upon his arrival in Wakanda after Tony’s distress call. Steve was still left in wonder now about who was in front of him to forget the audience in the room.

  


It was then that he noticed the gapping Howard Stark next to Peggy again another past comrade who was now, here, much older than when Steve would have called him a friend but more alive then he had been for almost three decades given his familiarity of the world of 2018. Oh this would be a joy to deal with, Steve thought to himself, glancing Tony’s way for a second. He hadn’t heard Tony say anything nor could he see the face of the genius billionaire through his face plate but he assumed from the silence that he had seen the man as well. Howard gulped at the sight of his old friend, the Star Spangled Man with a Plan, his face attempting to hide any emotions but his attempt was poor at best.

  


“Not just you. Your associates as well.” Howard actually managed to sound professional and a tad threatening. Bucky complied at Steve’s look towards him, placing his machine gun on the concrete floor in front of him. Spider-Man attempted to look less intimidating which, thankfully, wasn’t a hard feat to achieve even with being in a highly advanced battle ready suit. Tony’s repulsors whirled down as he forced his arms to his sides but the face of the Iron Man suit did little help make anyone comfortable as it was set in a permanent glare.

  


“Masks too.” Peggy stayed professional, wanting to gage who and what she was dealing with. Clearly she wouldn't be familiar with the Iron Man technology given the guess at when they were.

  


Tony forced out a sigh, “I guess we better get this over with.” A few of the officers looked a bit curious at the very human sounding voice coming from the mass of metal. Tony didn't seem to notice nor care. “Kid,” he turned to Spider-Man who jumped up a bit, his comically big mechanical eyes blinking a few times before he spoke up.

  


“Oh, right.” Spider-Man nodded in understanding. Steve observed Spider-Man’s own mask retracted to the middle of his neck and, oh god, Spider-Man was just a kid. Actually a kid who couldn’t have been eighteen yet and Steve was going to kill Tony for dragging a kid into a war he had prepared so little for.

  


Peter Parker tried his best to smile, but it was forced and awkward and he actually waved to the strangers with guns pointed at him and the Avengers, trying to make the scene better for the displaced heroes.

  


“Hi,” and, god, Peter was never going to be able to live this down so long as he lived but Peter was panicking. His world was spinning and his palms were sweating. This was all sorts of wrong. They couldn't be in the past. Sure all the world was going to shit as Tony had put it but this was too much. His mind was racing far too fast with worries of what this could mean. What if they erased themselves from the timeline? Peter wondered if there was any use in hiding his identity if this was the past. Doctor Strange said he didn't want anyone messing with time. Now Peter was in a strange place with strange people without the one strange person he knew could deal with time travel. His only solace was that Tony was here with him.

  


Tony in any other circumstance would have rolled his eyes at Peter or would mock threaten to disown the kid for how embarrassing he could be but he was far too focused on the man standing next to the woman he used to visit and call Aunt Peggy when he was just a boy himself. Tony took a deep breath, forcing himself to keep calm lest he have another panic attack.

  


The Iron Man faceplate retracted from Tony’s head, a new benefit of the nanotech no doubt, revealing a stone faced Tony Stark, staring blankly towards his very alive father.

  


Howard’s face had gone white with shock and disbelief at the man encased in metal. Peggy’s eyes seemed to widen a bit in recognition as well. Tony himself was shaking a bit, just enough to be noticeable by those who knew him. But it was there, and he could tell Steve could see it. Tony tried to ignore the pitiful look in Steve’s eyes, stepping forth himself given the seriousness of the situation this unlikely group had found themselves in. Tony then spoke up, voice riddled with concern and anxiety,

  


“My name is Tony Stark and, apparently, my team and I are in need of a way back to the future to stop the end of the universe.”


	2. Confusion and Time Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group of displaced heroes is escorted to a holding room before they can explain to Peggy and Howard how they got to 1989. Tony and Peter worry over the consequences of time travel and Steve grows suspicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After overwhelming positive reactions to the first chapter, I’ve decided to continue this. We’ll be getting to the good stuff soon, just be patient. Just don't be surprised at the bs I am going to attempt to pull to make this story have a purpose and make sense for being time travel. I didn’t want to disappoint guys  
> Thank you all for the support and the love. All of the comments have been so nice and 116 kudos seems crazy for this only being up for 3 days for me. Honestly all your comments have given me so much information. Conflicts between characters are coming up soon, I just have to set up the scenarios.

  


“What on earth? What is this?” Howard sounded almost indignant after the moments of pause that had passed between the two groups of armed personnel with the reveal of his son, much older and world weary who had hid behind a metal mask. His attention was then turned to the captain of the group, a man he had searched for years for, he too had aged since the last time Howard saw him but not as much as he should have. He had grown out his hair and a full beard however almost adding to his tired and pained look.

  


“As crazy as it sounds,” Steve sounded tired and reluctant. “It’s the truth. Clearly, this must be the past from our perspective given your ages and the emblem behind you. What year is it?”

  


“1989.” Peggy answered, intrigued growing. 

  


“Oh crap.” No one bothered to reprimand Peter’s outburst. Not with how things were going. He did however apologize given the sort of person he was. “Sorry,” he looked down, his bare cheeks blooming red. Peggy just arched a brow his way.

  


“Clearly we have a lot to discuss then.” Peggy held out her hand in a gesture for agents, “At ease.” The agents each lowered their arms but remained in place, still skeptical about their surprise guests.

  


“How do we know they're telling the truth, Carter?” Howard hissed as if to whisper but the gang heard him anyway. 

  


“That's some very convincing makeup, then," she joked dryly. "We will question them obviously. Come on, Howard, that's not so hard to understand, now is it?” Howard looked to at her almost insulted by her words. Her attempt at banter did not land as well as it use to, what with the strained relationship between the two after Howard continued to drink and create more and more weapons at the disposal of the government. He never could get past Steve’s death and while it had been hard for Peggy, she had rested well with the thought that Steve would want her to be happy. Only, now the man before her, supposedly, was Steve Rogers, aged only slightly, still youthful though his face looked grim and tired. He did look into her eyes and smile, however. It was all she could do not to sob right there and rush over to embrace him. Instead, Peggy swallowed her pain before continuing her commands,

  


“Follow me if you will, Steve, Tony,” she almost hesitated with those names. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. gave an odd look to Steve and Tony’s other companions, “and the rest of your team.” The man with the long hair looked away from her so she couldn't see his face obscured behind long brown locks. The boy, however, looked almost starstruck or rather terrified. Peggy had no way to know that the boy could easily hear them across the room whispering, but she knew the boy must have some reason to worry. She looked again to the gruff looking man who was clearly uncomfortable in the room, possibly with those present in said room and for a moment his eyes looked back and caught hers and the former liaison for the Howling Commandos gasped out, turning herself forward back to the odd group,

  


“Is that- Is that Sergeant Barnes?” Peggy blinked, again not believing her eyes for the third time in the same few minutes. If Peggy got taken aback by anything else she may have to sit down to sort her thoughts. Howard also took a moment to snap his head toward the long haired brunette, further being thrust into his own confusion.

  


Bucky gave her a tight lipped smile, though part of it felt almost genuine if only for the way he tried his best not to look Howard’s way as said man looked to be almost dissecting the view in front of him. His words were tired but kind enough, “been a while, Carter.”

  


“It’s Director Carter now,” she corrected before smiling in disbelief between the her two lost comrades, Steve and Bucky. “But that's hardly what’s important right now. It’s good to see you alive.” She huffed out a bit in disbelief. Bucky had to bite down on a ‘same to you’ causing his jaw to go rigid. It was then that she noticed that his glimmering dark gunmetal left sleeve wasn't a sleeve at all, it was a fully functional metal hand. “Today is certainly full of surprises.” There were far too many shocks today for her, even given all of the nonsense she had to deal with in the past with her less than traditional job. She wasn’t sure which of the three men she now had to keep track of were more worthy of her shocked and pensive expression. Howard, on the other hand, had his eyes nearly bulging before he could think to quickly covered up his shock with something more serious that was easily corrupted by his confusion at the situation at hand.

  


“This is obviously very unexpected but we need you to retale what happened to you before we go forward. It’s protocol,” Peggy explained.

  


“Director Carter, if I may.” Tony had no idea why he started like that. Formality was never his thing. It brought back lessons Aunt Peggy told him about being a polite young man when he was little. Lessons he had disregarded in his youth and had forgotten until now but he had to shake them away, having yet to find firm footing in this situation he was trapped in, even when faced with two people long dead from his point of view. He forced himself to swallow the pain in his throat. “Let’s get some rules down first before we talk. If we indeed are dealing with time travel, which we have only just discovered on our end is a very real possibility, I need to talk to my team before we go further.” Peggy evaluated him before nodding, acknowledging his words.

  


“Alright. This is an unorthodox situation, so I will allow that. Just don't be surprised if we monitor you.” The edges of her eyes crinkled when she spoke and Tony could tell she was trying to remain professional but was thankful for her nearly transparent heads up. They all were. 

  


“Of course, Cold War paranoia isn't gone. Gotcha.” It was Tony’s attempt at casual banter but Peggy saw right through it. The billionaire’s godmother gave him an odd look before taking a few steps closer to Howard and she gestured for them to follow her, acting as the head of the herd. She then told another unnamed agent to ready a vacant temporary interrogation room for them as well as ready a proper group of sequestered rooms. The agent was swiftly on their way, striding forward ahead of the group to follow orders. She then told another two to collect Cap’s gauntlets and Bucky’s gun before she turned her focus to the hallway.

  


The strange group wound their way around identical hallways in stagnant silence before arriving upon one where another agent was ready holding open a door that Peggy led them past. It was a room that was small and sparse with furniture. A metal table and two chairs sat in the middle of the concrete room but most notably was the mirror that was undoubtedly a one sided window that stretched across one of the four walls.

  


“Alright, then,” she huffed, “we’re getting a bigger area ready to accommodate you all after we settle what this is about. Just wait here until then.” She gave them all a slight smile before she walked out, closing the unpainted metal door behind her, giving the small group some semblance of privacy even if it was for show.

  


None of the superheroes, being left to themselves, were very comfortable in the confines of the room. Tony took it upon himself to speak up first, ripping his eyes from the closed door where Peggy had disappeared.

  


“So,” the genius engineer started, “looks like we have a lot of explaining to do. We don't know how this is going to play out but we need to be on guard,” he looked pointedly at Steve.

  


“Agreed, Tony. I was going to say the same to you.” Thank god he had the kid to hold him back and be a reminder to him who he had to act better for. He knew Steve didn't mean it as an insult but the wounds from Siberia still felt fresh. He couldn't help the pain in his heart or the strain in his throat but Tony did his best to ignore it.

  


“We need a game plan. We can’t give them any details. Not until we know what we are dealing with here.” Tony sighed and ran a hand across his face, his hands would have been shaking had he not been in his suit. “No one here, unfortunately for us, has any powers that can be used for time travel or speaking through dimensions.”

  


“Sorry,” Peter mumbled, almost absently.

  


“Kid, don’t worry it’s not your fault.” He waved away the boy’s guilt, familiar with the boy’s odd complex to apologize for everything, no matter how remotely he was tied to it. Something he meant to talk to Peter about. “It’s just always when we think things finally get quiet something goes to hell. We won’t be running from this fight with this Thanos. We cannot chance changing the timeline anymore than we already have, if we have,” he adds the afterthought. Tony began to pace and grabbed his left wrist with his right hand. Hopelessness was sinking into his bones as he began to breath harder, more haggard. No, he thought, he had to hold it together for Peter.

  


“They’ll be demanding an explanation and we can’t tell them anything, Rogers. They're monitoring is right now and given the crazy story of our lives I doubt any of them are going to have an easy time believing us.”

  


“Tony, you need to calm down. You’re working yourself up. For any of this to work we have to work together and get them to help us. This isn’t helping.” He was trying his best to sound compassionate and understanding. He wanted to pass this tough pain between them. “I know it’s been rough for you-”

  


“Rough.” Tony’s voice took on an accusatory tone, “Rough, Rodgers? Really, you don’t know half of the shit I’ve been dealing with since you’re tagteam went AWOL. So pardon me for being stressed.” For a few moments, all that could be heard was the engineer’s ragged breaths. “After you all left, it was so empty at the compound and I was at a loss of what to do. I needed something to do. Someone to make things for and too take care of but my family left me.” There was a pained bite in his voice that had Steve backing down from shouting at Tony. He knew he had messed up with Tony and he had no idea how to make things better between them.

  


The billionaire’s tone had turned from bitterness to sorrow as he recalled the events that led to the Avengers’ fall and the time after. “Rhodey is always great but I couldn't- I can’t help but feel responsible for the state he is in. Vision is distant at best, something that I am sure is my fault. I had no idea how to talk to or connect to him. I can’t hear him without hearing J.A.R.V.I.S.” A few beats of silence followed before Peter put a comforting hand in Tony’s and to Steve surprise Tony not only let him but smiled at the boy. A look of sympathy overtook his boyish features and something unspoken passed between the two geniuses.

  


Steve was beginning to really wonder what the deal was between the two heroes decked out in advanced metal suits. Steve looked over at Bucky who was leaning his back against the wall focusing on the mirror, trying to busy himself, uncomfortable being in the room with one Tony Stark on the verge of breaking down. Steve turned back to Tony, the All American Super Soldier’s mouth was dry but he tried all the same to speak to his once good friend.

  


“When we get back, we’ll clear this all up,” Steve tried to reassure but affirming any sure future now seemed out of any of their grasps. There relationship was tentative and tattered at best now and he shared the fault for that. Steve was sure that both Tony and he knew that this animosity between them had to be put aside for the time being.

  


“We have no backup. Neither Peter nor I are in range for our AIs obviously given the circumstances so F.R.I.D.A.Y. is offline. I’m more concerned as to how and why we are here and what it means.” Silence captured the room for a few minutes, each person present reassessing their situation. This time it was Peter who broke the silence,

  


“I think that, well, this clearly isn’t a Quantum Leap time travel situation, as we’re all in our proper bodies. Do your think this could be a Terminator time travel scenario?” The Spider themed hero thought aloud, sporting a pensive look turning more and more worried each second.

  


“Are any of these going to be relevant or applicable, Pete?” Tony tried to get something of use from the kid’s ramblings.

  


“What I am trying to say is: was all of this going to happen or are we changing things as we stay here? We haven’t begun to disappear or at least I haven’t Back to the Future style, so it’s all still up in the air. I’m not sure which one would be better and we’re not sure yet if we’ve changed the world we know irreversibly. What if we can’t get back? What if we’re stuck here?”

  


Tony looked at Peter as if he was worried that the boy was exhausting himself with all his stress and pop culture references. That, and the boy was still clutching both his hands onto Tony’s arm that he luckily had Iron Man armor around, seeing as he wasn't going to be hurt by the kid’s much more iron grip as he panicked.

  


“You okay, Peter. Remember to breathe. We’ll find a way,” Tony gave the kid’s hands a reassuring squeeze. Steve was preoccupied for a split second with how much the two seemed to care for each other on top of how similar they were.

  


“I am breathing,” he spoke; it was softer this time but no less concerned. The superpowered teenager at least seemed confident in something as he continued, “let’s just all agree to make sure not to give away too much, see if that disrupts time or not so we make it out of this place in one piece. No proper names besides those of us here. Just be vague, I guess.”

  


Bucky looked over, trying to not sound completely stunted by the situation he found himself in. “That's your idea, kid?”

  


“Yep,” Peter spoke, desperately trying to remain positive.

  


“I think the kid’s got a point,” Tony spoke up, Peter beaming up at him. Peter was smart, smart enough to concern himself right away with the trouble of time travel. The people they were stuck with had yet to see any of the crazy historical events come the group knew to pass so it was best to avoid that sort of talk and keep them out of the know. It was dangerous not to be cautious with something fragile like time travel, though Tony could barely believe he was admitting it to himself. Peter’s hypothesis and rules were actually quite spot on possibility for a kid keen on not whipping out the world as they new it.

  


“We can run with that, just keep your eyes open for anything weird. We don't know if this is some shared delusion or something like it but we have to make sure to retain what we can in case this is proper time travel.” Steve looked very serious saying those absurd words but before Tony could further comment, the one door in the room groaned open. Peggy reentered the small confining space, Howard at her heels, and she looked at each one of them, making sure to meet their eyes before speaking, conviction present in her elegant voice,

  


“I think it's about time you tell us what happened.”


	3. Rules and Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ground rules are laid down for this time travel as a contingency plan and questions aren’t answered.

Peggy Carter made a quick request to another subordinate for her most skilled agent as soon as she exited the room of supposed time travelers. When said subordinate had rushed off and turned the corner, Peggy took a breath in the stark hallway, taking a moment to right her pant suit’s gray blazer before she opened the metal door. The room held Howard in it along with two guards stationed at each side of the door to the hallway. Howard was clearly too preoccupied with observing what was beyond the glass to look up at her entrance. She knew he was aware she was there however. Peggy and Howard had their disagreements, many of those weighing heavier than they use to, sure but this was something they needed to be on the same page on. They were more occupied with Steve and Tony acting beyond the separating glass, clearly the two men knew each other, which didn't make much sense to Howard and Peggy.

  


“Shouldn’t you separate them to get a story out of them?” Howard whispered to the sixty eight year old Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. They had stationed themselves on the darkened side of the glass separating the two rooms, one full of displaced strangers as far as they knew. Watching them interact was interesting.

  


“They know we’re watching. We’d be able to hear them coming up with a story that any none of them seem to be in their complete right of mind. Perhaps the portal disoriented them. I’ve called for my second-in-command. I think with his experience he could be helpful with dealing with them while keeping a cool head. That and he is younger than I am, he can do with some running around.” Howard just hummed in response, lost in his own thoughts about the men behind the one sided mirror.

  


“Do you think it’s possible that it's really them? That somehow this is Tony from the future?” Howard asked.

  


“That wouldn’t explain Steve or Barnes being alive,” eyes open and distant. She huffed out a sigh before she commented further, “I guess all we can do is ask. I'm not sure if they'd give us an answer though.”

  


They were both attempting to collect themselves, this was beyond the point of absurdity with what was in front of them. Obviously, those on the other side of the glass were attempting to do the same. The rhetoric between Tony and Steve was far more familiar though fragmented than either of the two expected. Tony had worked himself up, nearly shouting at Steve Rogers, as if he was pent up with aggression at the man. Howard wasn’t surprise that he blew up at the symbol of America. Tony was never able to be professional in any setting, let alone a stressful scenario like this. What did surprise the older Stark was the boy that edged closer to Tony and gripped his grown son’s hand in his own. That attempt at physical comfort would have been suspicious enough on its own with the Tony he knew that hated any form of physical affection, but even more odd was the fact that this older Tony actually seemed to calm down a great deal because of the gesture. Tony turned, looking down at the kid, and Howard hadn't missed how his son's eyes grew softer. Tony looked to be attempting his best smile for the boy. That interaction alone solidified his suspicion about who the boy could be. He’d have to ask about this kid.

  


Tony was whispering now and Howard couldn’t hear through the barrier as this Peter comforted him, though he did capture the name Rhodey. James Rhodes, Howard recalled. Tony’s only real friend that Howard knew of who undeniably must have been dragged along for good in Tony’s life. Howard was able to ponder little about the implications of that name drop before the situation flipped and now it was Tony supporting the boy’s emotional state. Howard watched the interaction between his son and the brown haired boy. It was an odd sort of tug at his stone heart seeing Tony be so much more open and caring for another person. Howard thought that maybe Tony felt responsible for the boy in front of him in some sense but the Tony he knew didn’t know the meaning of the word responsibility. He was selfish and didn’t care to live up to the expectations that Howard or Maria had for him. This Tony looked weary and worldly in a way. He was certainly far older than the nineteen year old Howard believed was visiting his home in California, doing nothing with his smarts, ambition wasted on partying and drinking. His Tony knew nothing of discipline and sacrifice.

  


There was doubt in his mind still of how much Tony would have changed. Maybe he would change had he had some reason to but he was still doubtful of Tony ever learning his lesson and growing up. Howard decided to share one of his suspicion with Carter,

  


“That boy, do you think he’s my grandson?” Carter looked thoughtful at Howard’s heavy question.

  


“He very well could be. Tony acts like he is and he does share some resemblance to your son. You can ask but don’t be surprised if they don’t tell us anything. They’re trying to keep information from us on purpose, remember?” Peggy was busy with her own wounds of trauma and loss resurfacing every time she looked to Steve. 

  


A minute or two passed as they discussed the principles of time travel, the boy, Peter apparently, very hyperactive about the possibilities. Peter had worked himself up and Tony took it upon himself to help the kid work through his thoughts and breath easy.

  


Peggy knew that Tony was known for being reckless and largely inconsiderate of others, even for those close to him. Howard's son didn't seem to care about anything but with this older Tony, that didn't seem to be the case at all. The opposite in fact. The Tony she knew who she had seen little of the past few years wasn't one to wear his heart on his sleeve though Peggy knew from meeting him at a young age that he had a big heart. Seeing this older version was odd to say the least. She was more worried about how Howard would react.

  


“I think we should talk to them now,” was his gruff voice. No more delaying then.

  


………………………..

  


“I think you should start talking, preferable the truth,” Howard focused the words mainly on his son, almost as if this was any normal day when Tony had disrespected him and done something he'd undoubtedly have to clean up. Howard decided to jump the gun and take control of the situation, only Director Carter wasn’t having it.

  


“I’m sorry, do you work here or were you just visiting,” Peggy beat Tony to the punch and Tony loved that. He had forgotten how little she tolerated Howard’s sour attitude, bad decisions and disregard for others specialties. She turned back to them, her voice less grouchy than when she had to reprimand the older Stark. “Please, no matter how crazy. It will be up to us if we believe you.”

  


“Where would you like us to begin?” Tony inquired, too worried write a smile of his own on his face.

  


“Wherever you think will make the most sense, help us the most and give us less of a headache,” Peggy responded with ease.

  


“Tony first.” Steve started, looking to Tony, trying to have more faith in his teammate. “You were Iron Man before I got out of the ice, you can handle a little explaining.” Those words confused the older duo but they prepared to listen.

  


“Fine, but before we get started, let me just lay out some rules." Tony continued to speak about the fragmented team's concerns about the principles of time travel, asking Peggy for her input on their thoughts, given that changing the course of history more than they already had potentially could be dangerous. Eventually, they settled on some rules to dictate themselves by.

  


“I think the rules are simple enough,” Tony spoke, summarizing their thoughts. “Do not interact with anyone unless they died within a reasonable time to 1989 relative to 2018, a maximum of 6 to 7 years, or if they are trusted and are skilled in keeping secrets, otherwise we won't risk it. And, as Peter suggested, we won’t explicitly name anyone in the future to anyone here if we can help it. We don't have any mind manipulators with us so talking to anyone from the past that could reasonably change the future with new knowledge is a no go. IE, I will not talk to myself which doesn't seem so difficult to achieve given the secure bunker we’re in.” Tony addressed the room, looking for any other input but no one protested. “Sounds like a good plan. Way better than twelve percent of one at least.” After all, it was a contingency plan built to minimize any slip ups in the past that could further effect other events if they were in fact dealing with a movable timeline instead of a looping one. They wanted to retain the past even if they wouldn’t be wiped out if they didn’t. It seemed like a futile attempt to sidestep the Butterfly Effect but they weren’t ones to not try. 

  


“Now I can get started telling you about how we got here and what we are all doing together. It's going to have to be the cliff notes version of things,” Tony relayed. "Each of us are part of a team with people with extraordinary abilities meant to take on bigger threats to the world, stop me if this sounds familiar,” he eyed Peggy. “We were collecting our team together again to fight a new threat with new allies before we were taken from our place in time by a portal that suddenly popped out of nowhere.”

  


“So in short, you don’t know why you are here or exactly how,” Peggy spoke a bit disappointed at the lack of information as to how they got here. "Well, this certainly is frustrating."

  


“That’s right.” Steve nodded, voice earnest and back straight.

  


“What happened to you? How are you even alive, Steve?” Peggy couldn’t keep back her curiosity and pain any longer. “You were lost in the arctic. You drove the plane into the sea.”

  


“I was recovered in the arctic in the new millennium.” Again, they were trying to keep it all vague. The astonishment in Peggy's face did not subside before she turned her attention to Bucky Barnes.

  


“What about you, Barnes? What happened to you?” Peggy pushed. She knew how much Bucky’s death had meant to Steve. She had suspected that was part of the reason why Steve had agreed to a suicide mission and eventually plunged himself into the freezing northern seas. 

  


“I can maybe grasp how Steve survived being frozen because of the serum but that doesn’t explain how little you aged. That and we were told you fell and were recorded as Missing in Action. It couldn’t have been another case of time travel, right. This seems like it's the first time to travel like this for all of you.” Howard looked to the rest of the heroes, seeking their input. Peggy could tell now that Bucky was clearly less than comfortable being near Howard and herself, sticking to his spot in the corner of the room.

  


“It’s a long story and I think it would be a bad idea to tell you. Wouldn’t want to ruin time,” Bucky rationalized, speaking up for the first time since the elderly duo entered the room. Bucky crossed his arms, “I can say it wasn’t time travel, not really.” He kept feverishly looking towards Steve to save him. Steve stepped forward,

  


“What's more important is that we find a way back. The problem is I’m not sure how we would.” With those words, Steve gazed back at Bucky, promising something to him through their eye contact alone.

  


“Help me understand something,” Howard inserted his piece between the two soldiers. “You are all familiar with odd occurrences and advanced tech in the future and that you are all a part of a team that helps defend the world. You said that you were joined by people with interesting abilities so I understand Steve’s uniform and Barnes’ and I know they would be more than helpful in a fight but I’m wondering what’s with the your get ups?” Howard lazyly gestured to Tony and Peter.

  


“This is one of my Iron Man suits. It is what I use to fight alongside other more enhanced members.” With a double tap to his chest with his middle and forefinger, Tony’s suite retracted into his reactor core in the middle of his chest revealing the covert Iron Man paired workout outfit that had grafted inlays for his armor. Howard seemed mesmerized by display, actually impressed for once with something Tony had made.

  


“That’s certainly an interesting wardrobe choice.”

  


“I’m a grown man. I can make my own choices,” Tony spoke a bit more prickly and defensive than before Howard had joined them. Tony couldn’t help but default into the way he had so often spoken to his father.

  


“A high tech suit of armor, not actually made out of iron I’m sure. It’s impressive, that's for sure.” Howard was looking at the armor with more interest than he had ever had in Tony’s personal life. Before Tony could comment with an obligatory and curt ‘thanks’ Howard had to open his mouth again. “I’m not so sure about the luchador mask colors.” Of course there was always something about Tony for him to criticize.

  


“A hot rod actually,” Tony deadpanned. Howard actually smirked at that as if Tony had confirmed something for him.

  


“Petulant and childish as always. Some things never change.” Howard just shook his head, hands in his pockets. Those words stopped Tony’s thoughts in their tracks and his eyes bore into his father’s. Peggy wasn’t sure, but she thought she caught an almost aggressive light pass through Peter’s eyes at the criticism of Tony’s character. Sensing the hostility from multiple parties in the room, Peggy stepped in as the peacekeeper.

  


“Let’s get to talking about how to return you to your time,” her voice was firm and absolute. That certainly was the larger concern of theirs and they needed to focus on it.

  


“Why don’t we start on the portal?” Peter was the only chipper voice in the room and seemed ready to tackle this problem. “What type of portal was it? Do you have any idea what that portal was, I didn’t get a good look at it. That and I’ve only seen one type of portal before and none of us are wizards so that wouldn’t work.”

  


“Wizards?” Howard looked at the boy oddly, a boy who had stated the absurd word so nonchalantly and no other members of his group seemed to protest the statement. Peggy actually thought to add something constructive to the conversation.

  


“We have had two reports from our own personnel, one of them being my second-in-command, of a ring of clouds blue and green clouds with lights sparking them open for a short time around this facility within the last two weeks. Both of those times, however, nothing came out and after less than a minute they promptly closed. These enigmas are actually one of the reasons as to why Howard is here. From what I saw today from your unexpected entrance, those two reported portals were much like the portal all of you arrived out of. These spawning points may have something to do with your arrival here in this location. We still have yet to conclude what these portals could be but you're presence gives us a pretty good idea as to why.”

  


“That's odd. We didn't see any portals before we were taken. Why don’t we take a look at the security cam footage,” Peter piped up.

  


“That’s not a bad idea, kid.” Peter beamed at the praise from Tony. “If Captain Rogers or I can take a look at it we can determine if it’s something we’ve seen at all before.” Peggy nodded in agreement,

  


“I can supervise you while you look at the footage once I get it available for viewing from security. One of my trusted witnesses can look at the footage of today as well to confirm if this is the same type of portal, at least with how it looks. With that at least we’ll be able to narrow down what this enigma could be. Until then, I think all you can do is wait while we confirm who you say you are.”

  


“I suppose that seems acceptable,” Tony confirmed for her though someone else caught his eye in that moment. Howard’s focus had settled on the boy next to his son, intrigue and curiosity reflected in his eyes. Tony’s annoyance and resentment was not yet condensed into resignation, especially not with how Howard was looking at Peter almost accusing him of something. His father had to open his mouth. “Who are you?”

  


Maybe Howard was trying to be nice but Tony didn’t think it came out that way and by the way Peter tried to shy away from Howard, clearly intimidated, Tony didn’t think he was wrong. Peter was left sputtering trying to answer. 

  


“I’m Peter. I’m with the team.” He sheepishly yet slyly looked to Tony for confirmation.

  


“Uh huh.” He said not believing the kid. “How are you two associated?” He pointed between Tony and Peter. Peggy’s eyes may have been old but they were still sharp and observant caught Tony watching Peter very carefully, protectively as if he was afraid Howard may do something to hurt the boy.

  


Tony was fuming. Was Howard trying to scare his kid to death? He didn’t want his old man anywhere near his kid. Instinct told him to pull Peter towards him, so Tony did, arm resting across Peter’s shoulders as he spoke up,

  


“He’s with me. All I can say is that I mentor him. We have to be careful with details, remember, Dad?” Howard’s eyebrows raised a bit at that almost claim to Peter. It was all Tony could do to not push Howard away from them. Peter and Tony had been able to build a very familiar and firm relationship over the past year and a half, much like that of a parent and kid. They helped stabilize each others’ lives. At some point, Peter had expressed, exhausted and upset about something that he saw Tony as his father figure but never wanted to push him away so he had never told him. The exchange instead brought them coser together and lately they had spent more and more time in each other’s company to the point where they couldn’t imagine a life without the other. Peter had to be very careful as to how he addressed Tony, specifically in private. They had only just started trying out the word ‘dad’ to see how that went and he wasn’t going to have Howard mess that up.

  


“Interesting,” was all Howard said, too deep in thought to express any disapproval or disinterest just yet. Peggy cleared her throat to gain their attention once more,

  


“My second-in-command will be the one to extract Tony’s blood to compare to Howard’s and records of the Tony we know from 1989 if that is alright.” It sounded like a suggestion but Tony knew they had to be overly careful as S.H.I.E.L.D. “Obviously, we can’t use Steve’s or Barnes’ given we have no samples of their blood and I’m assuming Peter here is too young to have a counterpart in 1989,” the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. explained carefully.

  


“You’d be right, he was born in the new millennium.” One of Peggy’s brows rose at Tonys words just now grasping how far in the future her godson was from. “I understand your concerns and I’m more than willing to prove who I am. I’m more worried about this second-in-command,” Tony spoke, inquiring about this mystery S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

  


“Don’t worry, he is very good at keeping secrets and quite trustworthy.” Not a moment later, two firm knocks rang through the door. “Enter,” Peggy commanded. With that, a man with rich dark skin entered the room with a slick gray metal case. He was bald and missing his signature eyep but his professional scowl was enough for Tony and Steve to recognize him. It was their turn to be surprised. Tony, of course, opened his mouth to comment,

  


“Well, holy shit, if it isn’t Nick Fury.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s some more to hold you over that I spent my whole day on. What did you guys think? Sorry I always end on something like a cliffhanger but I’m still editing the stuff I have written down. A huge thank you to all you dedicated readers and I will update as frequently as I can given my schedule. Also I believe Howard Stark is a garbage human being, could you tell? He, however, will actually be a character, not just an object to throw my aggression at.  
> I have progressed the relationship for Tony and Peter so they are more comfortable being referred to as father and son. This is ultimately about Tony and Peter and Tony working through some stuff but there will be some Steve, Bucky and Peggy feels as I attempt to balance all these characters in one story. Maybe it will all fall apart due to my incompetence who knows. I did run this by someone and they said the plot worked so hopefully this all works out.  
> I did the math on everyone’s ages so here you go:  
> Nick Fury - 38  
> Peggy Carter - 68  
> Howard Stark - 72  
> 1989!Tony Stark - about 19 (his birthday is in May)  
> 2018!Tony Stark - 48  
> Peter Parker - 16  
> Bucky Barnes - 100 (or 30-34ish it's honestly all out of whack)  
> Steve Rogers - 99 (or 33ish).  
> When people show up I’ll let you know how old they are. I did a lot of deep lore looks on the wiki for other stuff too.  
> Bucky’s mood about all of this: ‘I don’t want to be here. I just wanted to nap on my farm.’


	4. Fury and Suites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick Fury gets to explore the origins of his annoyance of Tony Stark and Peggy gets the team a temporary living situation.

Nick Fury looked wholly unimpressed to say the least at his first impression of this older version Tony Stark. He disregarded the genius and instead nodded towards his superior before carefully laying the briefcase onto the single table, looking, of course, years younger than the Fury they knew but he was still aged like a fine pissed off wine. 

  


“I think we maybe should have expected him to be here.” Steve stated plainly, too busy getting over his own shock to acknowledge Tony’s vulgar language. Fury just stepped forward, his large ebony coat absent. Instead, he was sporting an all black wardrobe, all practical gear and of course two visible pistols strapped to him while still being functional.

  


“Of course you work here already. It only makes sense,” Tony stated dryly as Fury clicked the case open.

  


“Yes. I have been at S.H.I.E.L.D. for quite some time, actually.” If Nick Fury could look smug, he would have, instead he just held his composure in a room full of surprise time travelers. Peggy must have already informed him of their situation which felt like cheating to Tony.

  


“You already know Fury in your time I take it?” Peggy inquired, face thoughtful.

  


“You could say that,” Steve stated, eyes narrowing at the new figure.

  


“Did he learn that angry stare from you or did he just come in the mail that way?” Tony could feel the annoyed eyes on the back of his neck as he was turned to Peggy, which was odd as usually he only felt one.

  


“Who is this?” Peter whispered, backing away from the scowling man, obviously noticing the change in atmosphere.

  


“Right, of course you don’t know him. Sorry, I just didn’t know Mr. Super Spy would be here. This is Nick Fury. He helped put together the ‘super team’,” Tony winked in an overtly comical gesture. Once that sentence about the ‘super team’ left his lips, of course Peter’s eyes widened in awe at the man readying medical equipment. “He kind of dragged me into it actually. We can talk about that in detail later. I’m sure it will make for a great story.” Fury wasn’t looking at them but Tony knew he had heard some of it so he had already messed up. Luckily, Fury didn’t say anything about it. 

  


“I will be the one taking your blood sample as a precautionary measure of course. Is that alright, Anthony Stark.” Fury sounded anything but enthused about his assigned task.

  


“I’ll be honest here, I’m not all that comfortable with it being you taking my blood.”

  


“I already don’t like you,” he glowered out nonplussed. 

  


“That’s great because I know I don’t really like you. We tolerate you in the future at best,” Tony bantered back much to most of the room's occupant's chagrin or amusement.

  


“Cut the shit, Stark. Let me see your arm,” Nick Fury almost growled at Tony.

  


“But bothering you is one of my favorite things to do.”

  


“I look forward to it, Stark Jr,” his tone was far from excited by the prospect. Tony glanced at Cap for a moment, a solemn face met him there. Tony got the memo; he needed to be serious about this.

  


“Whatever, just take the sample,” Tony stated while shrugging off his high tech running jacket and slid onto one of the steel chairs.

  


Fury easily and wordlessly wrapped off Tony’s forearm, perhaps a bit too tight, and asked the future face of Stark Industries to ball his fist. A needle pricked through Tony’s skin, drawing a small vial of his lifeblood. It only took a few seconds before Fury almost reluctantly pressed a bandage on the vein before proceeding to pack up the equipment. Oddly, all was silent as this went down before Fury broke the it,

  


“I am going to personally get these to the lab. Anything else you need, Director Carter.”

  


“Yes, please make sure that the footage of the event of their arrival is ready as well as the other two portal incidents. Tony and I will meet you there once I get the rest of them to a more accommodating secure location.”

  


“Of course.” With that, Fury briskly made his way out the door, probably glad not to have to deal with Tony for a few more minutes.

  


“Keep an eye out, okay, chief?” Tony called playfully as the door swung close. “Really, what a lovely man. Very charming.” That dismissal of authority was all too familiar behavior of Tony’s for Howard. Certainly his son thought the behavior would go unnoticed, swept under the rug but not with Howard here.

  


“Must you be insulting and unprofessional at everything, Tony.”

  


“I’m sorry, I thought I was the one who got to decide how I conduct myself.” Tony could feel himself regressing just being around his father which wasn’t good. He kept snapping at him and being a piss poor role model for Peter. This wasn’t the person he wanted Peter to see him as, indignant and problematic. The sooner they left 1989 the better. Peggy again tried to steer the two away from an argument.

  


“Fury has been with us for nine years so far though I’m sure you may already know that.” At Steve’s blank look she continued, “or not.”

  


“He's very secretive.”

  


“Yes, I’m not surprised as that’s the point. I plan on leaving him in charge when I retire this year.”

  


“Sounds like a good plan,” was all Steve could say. Fury, while being hard to understand, did look out for the greater good even if Steve did not agree with him a great deal of the time on many matters. He was a man who Steve would never really know but could count on as an ally when he was needed.

  


“His resume was very impressive. He came very highly recommended from Alexander Pierce.” Steve tried not to grimace at the name as to not reveal the man as a traitor to freedom and humanity itself. Natasha had told him about Fury’s showdown with the mastermind behind the modern Hydra and how Fury was the one to bring Pierce down for good.

  


“So, what have we found out so far? That we’re trapped in this time until we can figure something out to do?”

  


“That sounds about right.”

  


“Well, if you are to be here for the discernible future until then, then you will need a place to stay. Once I drop most of you off there, I will need Tony to follow me to security as I have already said. Let’s get on our way then shall we?” Again, Director Carter led the odd group down the halls, heels clicking as she made her way.

  


As they walked, Steve fell into place, flanking Peggy, putting some space between them and the rest of their group.

  


“Quite a place you built, Peg.”

  


“I had to take care of everything while you were gone. I make good on my promises, Steve. I was going to honor your sacrifice, precedent be damned. You must know that.” For a moment, melancholy and relief mixed in Peggy’s mind and she was left smiling like the pearls that were strung around her neck. She felt both a little bit younger and older today. It was an odd feeling. Peggy was tempted to mess with her hair but decided that so much had changed about her that Steve would hardly notice a few hairs out of place. She had lived a long life and she wasn't against gussying herself up before going to work but in this moment she hardly had the time.

  


“Of course.” He let himself smile as her voice washed over him, reminding him that was really Peggy, a Peggy who knew him and herself. He nearly wept at the opportunity to talk to her again. He whispered, something else. Something full of guilt. “Sorry, I couldn’t make good on mine.” The weight of those words was enough to inform Peggy that this was really the Steve Rogers she knew standing before her. 

  


“You couldn’t help what happened, Steve. You sacrificed yourself for the greater good and at the end of the day you came out alive. That’s all that matters.”

  


“I wish it was,” Steve looked down a bit dejected.

  


“What do you mean?” Peggy’s brow wrinkled in concern.

  


“Things in the future, they’re confusing and complicated. Let’s just say I made some mistakes and I’m not sure if I’ll ever make it up to those I hurt.”

  


“Do you want to know what I’ve learned after all the mistakes I’ve made? We can only try our best and try to correct some of the mistakes we’ve made. That’s at least better than ignoring them.” She let out a tired sigh, "it's good to have you back even if it only for a little while.”

  


“I’m glad to see your radiant smile again.” Peggy laughed and for a moment she sounded young once more despite her gray hair and aged face.

  


“You flatter me, Steve, but I’m married,” she raised her left hand as they walked, showing off a golden wedding band. Steve shared a kind look with her, glad that Peggy’s wit was still as present as her smile. 

  


“I know I just wanted to say it, now that I have the chance.” Both pairs of eyes glazed over for a bit with the mist of memories of their youth.

  


“I won’t fault you for that.” She tore her eyes away from Steve’s as they approached an elevator doors, Peggy definitively pressing the upper button on the wall. 

  


……………

  


The suite was made to look like some sort of living space complete with a kitchen and several other doors leading to presumably a bedroom and bathroom. Possibly somewhere they intended to hold up if need be but most likely it was a personal space for someone to spend the night that wasn't being used at the moment.

  


“This is where you will be staying for the time being. I don’t use it very often. We have two suites in this facility in the case that I or another high up official has to make an extended stay. This is a secure floor that only I or any other Alpha or Beta level members can enter or those under the surveillance of an Alpha or Beta level officer. I have allowed for your entry here. This floor as of now is under restricted access for only alpha members and those they personally approve to enter. The only Alpha member present is me so rest assured you won’t have to risk running into anyone and putting the future in danger. They may not extremely luxurious suites compared to your time but they will have to make do.”

  


“Um. Excuse me, Mrs. Director Carter but where are we exactly?” Peter asked, keeping close to Tony interestingly enough to Peggy. The boy was charming and polite which was nice to see as this was the only member of the party she did not know. The group was a lot to take in but she was getting use to it. She had to to be functional. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. shook her head a bit before answering the boy’s question, 

  


“We are at the head facility for SHIELD based in Washington DC. It is one of the most secure buildings in the world.” Each member of the party sans Howard made some effort to nod at the information. “I know none of the technology here will live up to what you have in the future but we can try our best. There is a television in both living spaces if you want to watch something but the phones have already been disabled. I hope you all can deal with sharing a space.”

  


“I think it’ll be fine for now,” Steve ended his observation of the space to nod at Peggy.

  


“Agreed,” Tony doubted those words the moment they left his lips. Cap and he still had yet to broach the subject of the end of the Avengers and the event that left him cold, broken and alone in a Hydra facility.

  


“If there is anything we can do to help you get more comfortable, just let me know. I will stay in the building or with you as I am one of the few we have decided can interact with you lot.” Peggy leaned her back on the counter of the kitchenette, waiting for questions.

  


“So we’re, what, captive until then. Under house arrest?” Steve’s voice wasn’t accusing her, he would never do that, but he did want to know what was the purpose of waiting around in a locked floor when they needed to get back to their own time to fight.

  


“I would assume it’s more like we are under quarantine until further notice that we can do anything that won't rupture the space time continuum.”

  


“I know it is not ideal but that is correct, Mr. Tony Stark,” Peggy spoke but Steve noticed a curiously easy playfulness to her tone. Steve looked between Tony and Peggy, beginning to realize that perhaps in her time knowing Howard Stark it was possible that she had met Tony. It was something he hadn’t considered before that moment.

  


“Let’s forgo the formalities, Aunt Peggy. Usually I would complain but I understand how serious this is. Well, if we’re already camping out in 1989, we might as well make the best of it. Right?” Tony suggested, turning his gaze to the party.

  


That earned him a perplexed and accusing look from Steve as well as an intrigued one from Bucky. “You’re calling her Aunt Peggy?” Steve noted.

  


“You know her?” was the dry voice of Bucky, who again had sequestered himself to the corner of the room, clearly a habit of his own.

  


“Of course I do, Barnes.” He hadn’t intended on letting that detail slip when they first realized when they were, what with the past between Steve and Peggy, but it would come out at some point with her here and alive so Tony thought to get ahead of it. “She’s my godmother. Why on earth would I not know her?”

  


Bucky’s mouth opened and closed before he answered, “I just wasn’t expecting it is all.”

  


‘Why did you never tell me’ was the question in Steve’s eyes but he knew it wasn’t the time to ask nor would it be comfortable to ask given all he had kept from his old teammate.

  


“Yes, I have known Tony since he was a toddler. He’s always been quite the rambunctious boy,” Peggy provided, her lips upturned but her eyes seemed almost sad. “Back to business though. Your weapons will be returned to you within the day. We just have to scan them for any traces of the portal as well as make sure they aren’t going to do anything to destroy the facility.”

  


“That seems a little over the top. Do you not trust us?” Steve inquired, a touch of him realizing how much this Peggy had gone through in his absence.

  


“It’s only protocol,” she assured. “I’m very certain you are who you say you are despite how crazy it seems in all honesty. We will classify anything we find out about the weapons and our instruments are not made to damage the items in any way.”

  


“Nifty,” Bucky answered and for the second time Peggy pulled her attention away from Steve to look at his childhood friend. Barnes’ voice was like gravel though still young. It’s rough quality could possibly be intentional but Peggy could see how much Sergeant Barnes had changed a great deal since the last time Peggy saw him, which granted was in World War II. He was more stocky now but the real change was how his face looked remorseful and solemn compared to Steve’s stoicness and exhaustion. Their behavior had changed through experiences she had not seen them off on. They both had changed so much without looking to have physically aged much. They had grown apart and the thought hurt. The fact they would never be what they were but Peggy could see that she kept getting lost in her thoughts. She needed to help them get back home. A home that was no longer with her.

  


“Tony, I think it’s about time to review that footage and for you to look at the data collected from the previous two occurrences. The rest of you can wait here.”

  


“You sure you don't want anyone else to come?” Tony said, thoughts going back to Peter being left with his father, Steve and the Winter Soldier but he didn’t want to be too suspicious.

  


“Not unless they want to but someone well versed in physics and engineering like you should be enough. We can probably find a way to bring it back up here but we have to make a copy of it to do that. I don’t want any more agents seeing you all then is necessary so I think it’s best that they hold up here.” Peggy glanced at Tony’s father. “Howard, what about you?”

  


“I’ve already seen all the footage and previous data. I will wait until the rest of it is compiled.” Tony had a sneaking suspicion that was not the only reason he chose to stay behind.

  


“I guess I can live with that,” the pilot of the Iron Man suit stated though Tony wasn’t convinced he sounded like it. Anxiety began to build up in Tony’s battered heart, “What about Peter?”

  


“I’m fine with staying here. I don’t want to make this any more complicated than it has to be, Tony.” Tony looked unsure but Peggy was already at the doors looking expectantly.

  


“We won’t be too long,” Peggy guaranteed, settling the situation and opening the heavy oak door.

  


Tony pulled Peter aside to whisper to the wall-crawler, “do me a favor and refrain from using any powers, okay, kid? We kinda have to keep that sort of thing under wraps because these guys are real jumpy.”

  


“Got it,” the spiderling whispered back, giving Tony a small thumbs up.

  


With that, Tony reluctantly left Peter, eyeing his father before the gleaming polished door shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yah New Chapter~ Look, I was trying to find a reason for Howard and Peter to be left in a room without Tony. I’m not sure how well it works though. And holy moly 300 kudos thank you so much all of you! All of your comments are so motivating and kind.


	5. Footage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Security cam footage is discussed and a call is made.

Nick Fury was already present in the surveillance room waiting for them, looking enthralled with being in the same room as Tony again. The rest of the room was cleared of any personnel, leaving in their wake a thick folder on the table besides Fury and a high processing computer for the time. Next to that were two box computer monitors and keyboard displaying a still image with a timestamp. Tony sauntered on in, addressing the mopey man,

  


“Can’t wait to see the floppy disks you have in store for me.”

  


“I’m pretty sure that isn’t worthy of response, Stark.” Fury always looked on the precipice of anger, always almost furious with Tony and his snark. Tony looked pensive for a moment.

  


“You don't seem at all bothered by this whole thing,” the genius billionaire stated.

  


“I've been debriefed on the situation.”

  


“Of course you have,” Tony mumbled to himself. “Anyways, I thought we'd get to know each other.”

  


“Too bad we have more important things to do.” Tony went along with it.

  


“What about those who saw us show up? They won’t talk about our arrival to anyone I assume?”

  


“We’ve been discrete about it. No agent is to relay what happened here to any other officers or personnel as per usual.” Fury then cued up the footage, starting it promptly not wanting to hear any more delays from Tony.

  


Upon reviewing the footage, Tony’s mind began to turn, trying to nail down if he had seen this type of portal before. An amorphous cloud began to spark into a ring and further opened up. All personnel present stopped their current task and assumed a defensive stance, guns raised towards the odd singularity. A moment later, Tony and company were landing hard on the pavement. Unfortunately, the footage was only available in black and white.

  


“The instruments we used were meant to measure the electromagnetic currents and other energy pulses that irradiated from all three sites. All of which are the same but all are not indicative of anything we’ve seen before on record. We've run various diagnostic tests on the weapons that Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes were carrying that match the area around where you appeared. The data is in this folder,” Nick Fury nodded to the manila folder. “As of now, we are still looking for an explanation for this.” 

  


“What would you say the colors of this thing were again. The lights coming off of it were a purple blue, right?”

  


“The clouds were mostly blue, the rest was green. Some of the sparks were purple.”

  


“Interesting, was it an array of colors or were they a fused coloration you say or more like oil and water?” Tony pressed further, now leaning on the wall adjacent to the computer, hand propping up his arm so that he could tap his chin with one pointer finger.

  


“Mixed, but not that much.”

  


“How mysterious,” Tony hummed in thought.

  


“What are you thinking this is, Tony?”

  


“I saw the light reflecting on me when I arrived, it was more green than what I would have associated with this sort of nebulous clouded portal,” he flailed a hand, gesturing towards the screen.

  


“So you’ve seen something like this before?” Fury leaned in expectantly.

  


“Yes. Can you keep a secret, Fury?”

  


“It’s my job,” the annoyed man affirmed.

  


“I know of something related to what may have actually caused this. I saw the Tesseract used like this. More to travel between space, not back through it. But who knows, I wasn’t made aware of everything about it.”

  


“What do you mean by that?” Peggy’s brow crinkled.

  


“The Tesseract was this glowing blue cube of energy that was being used way back in the day by Hydra to produce their crazy advanced nazi weapons.” Both S.H.I.E.L.D. officers minutely raised their brows at the information as Tony continued on, “the problem is we can’t touch the version of it in 1989 for time retention reasons and I was sure it was off world in my time so I have no idea who used it. Also, I’ve never seen it blast someone to the past, it only transports people across space. I don’t think that it would make much sense if on its own it transported someone to a few decades in the past, given the laws of spacetime.”

  


“Off world?” Peggy inquired to make sure that she heard what he said.

  


“Yes, we had one of our friends guard it on his planet,” Tony stated flippantly as he continued trying to piece together what this could be.

  


“Noted,” Fury flatly stated.

  


“What do you think, Agent Fury?” Peggy segued back to the topic at hand.

  


“I’m not sure, I haven’t run into anything like it before these two weeks. We thought Maybe it’s disturbed the atmosphere or something to that effect. We have the majority of the readings printed here and we can take this back to the suites to look over it in more detail. You'll have some access to the footage upstairs now that it is copied.” Fury nodded to Tony before continuing,

  


“Until then, we still have to decide the best course of action.”

  


“What if there’s nothing we can do from our end?” Tony spoke, looking at his clasped hands.

  


“I hope that’s not the case because otherwise we’ll just have to wait for another portal to appear,” Peggy inquired. “We will still try and put our minds together to get you all home safely.”

  


Tony couldn't help thinking about that something else at her words, even with all the craziness they were discussing now that it felt possible he was stuck here for a good long while. He was thinking about how he would do anything to see his mother one more time. It would be selfish to ask her to come here, to get into this mess. He didn’t want her to carry another one of his burdens. She only had maybe two years time left from 1989. He didn’t want to squander that. It wouldn’t be fair to his mom. He kept tossling with the idea in his head.

  


“Tony, are you alright?” Peggy’s professional veneer had peeled away somewhat as she inched closer to her godson, eyes ripe with worry.

  


“There’s just a lot on my mind, Aunt Peggy.” Tony ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Peggy looked oddly at him at the address but no less amused. She even smiled at him. “Hey, Aunt Peggy, can I speak to you about something?”

  


“Of course.”

  


“Hey, Fury. Can I have a moment alone with my godmother.” Tony’s tone was playful but something dragged behind it that felt more serious. Fury looked between them then settled on Peggy for confirmation.

  


“It’s fine, Agent Fury. We will be up soon enough.”

  


Fury nodded, “of course, Director Carter,” he walked to the door but stopped, looking back at the two individuals he would soon leave in the room.

  


“Is there anything else, Agent Fury,” Peggy asked, meeting her successor’s eyes.

  


“I think your godson's a headache,” Fury deflected and Peggy’s lips just twitch in an attempt to hide a smile.

  


“Keep it to yourself, Fury,” Tony shouted out but to the soon to be one-eyed Willy had already promptly left the scene. Peggy turned back to Tony, scrutinizing every inch of his face. She had noticed something about Tony and she herself wanted to talk to him without the others around, most notably Howard. Tony had been purposely distancing himself from Howard, that Peggy could see for herself, observant as she was. She liked to think she knew her unofficial godson well enough but they had grown distant in these later years, only now, here he stood, a man well into his adulthood and ripped from his own time.

  


“I’m not so young anymore, Aunt Peggy. There’s a lot I regret.” Now Peggy could really make out all the evidence of aging on his face, the wrinkles and the baggy eyes. None of Tony’s affection seemed fake which was a good sign. He was smiling like he meant every word. A deeply depressing thought that it may be her only chance to see this Tony. The Tony of 1989 was hardly a man, only nineteen and he was far from at peace with himself.

  


“If I’m allowed to ask,” he started even though his voice already had started to waver. Peggy observed the change in his demeanor and rested a hand on his shoulder, attempting to comfort him. Tony let out a haggard breath and wiped his wet eyes.

  


“Do you think I could see my mom?” his voice was pleading almost hoping against hope. Peggy’s stomach dropped a floor as her mind churned. Maria didn't strike her as someone who could keep something like this from her son so that left only one option.

  


“She doesn’t make it to when you are from, does she?” Her tone was mournful and sorrowful. Tony looked down at his shoes. “I won’t tell them, Tony. That’s ahead of us here but I’m good at keeping secrets.” Pain was written into every pore of her godson’s face. She thought about all those she had lost. She thought about Steve and how thankful she was to be able to speak to him once more long after she had lived with his death.

  


“I’m sure I can pull in something. I’ll call her myself. She’s in not in Malibu right now. I think she is actually in New York so we can manage to arrange a meeting. I know you have to be careful with who you interact with but I can do this.”

  


“Thank you.” Peggy smiled softly at the small words.

  


“It’s no trouble really.” Tony was still antsy, wringing his hands together. “Is there anything else? Anyone else you would like to see?”

  


“This may be asking too much but if Jarvis is still available could I maybe talk to him.” Peggy’s eyes grew sad in realization of what his words meant. She had begun to mourn for those that have yet to leave this earth. Jarvis’ life had calmed down considerably in his later years in comparison to when they would track down enemies of the state and weapons of mass destruction together. She was thankful that Jarvis stuck around to help Tony grow up seeing as Howard wasn’t doing his part in it. She forced a smile, trying to shift some of the weight of Tony’s grief onto her.

  


“Of course. He’s an old friend as you know. I’m sure he’ll go for old times sake,” Peggy added.

  


“I can’t thank you enough.”

  


“Just make sure you’ll keep down this path of the better man you are and it’s a done deal,” Peggy’s eyes met his and she squeezed his shoulder.

  


“Of course, Aunt Peg,” his mouth made an attempt to smile at her but it’s still as heartbreaking as the revelation about the fate of Maria Stark and Edwin Jarvis. Peggy wished now that she and Howard hadn’t had such a large disagreement about each other just so that she could have spent more time with watching Tony grow up.

  


“You’re my godson. Of course I am going to help you,” she assured, placing a thin and wrinkled hand on Tony’s own battered ones.

  


“I’m sorry I haven’t seen you in so long. If it’s ‘89 then, jeez, I must have neglected visiting you for years. I haven’t seen your family in years either too.” They hadn’t been particularly close but Tony knew her grand niece and met her on occasion. He probably would have known her better had he not been out partying all the time. “How is Sharon?”

  


“She’s fine. Smart girl, seeing that she’s only five at this point,” Peggy egged on, knowing Tony must have forgotten how old Sharon was. “She idolizes me, it’s quite humbling. Her parents say that she takes after me. I’m thinking of buying her a gun holster when she’s old enough just don’t tell her parents.” She winked his way, her dry wit eliciting a few chuckles from Tony which must have been her goal all along.

  


“She’s followed in your footsteps alright but that’s all I will say.” They smiled together in a comfortable silence before Peggy forced herself to broach their previous subject.

  


“Would you like to be here when I call your mother?” She could see his conflicted expression, the thoughts difficult to weave through in his mind.

  


“I’m worried I may take the phone away from you,” Tony joked but his hands were shaking in his lack of confidence.

  


“Why don’t I put her on speaker phone, that way you can still hear her?” Luckily, it was still only about noon, so Maria was likely going to pick up.

  


“Sure. Just... I don't want her hearing me in the background or something,” Tony sniffed and his voice wavered and a fresh tear slid down his cheek.

  


“It will be fine, Tony.” Peggy wasn’t so sure about it but she tried to believe her own words as she rubbed circles on Tony’s shoulder to calm him down. He took several breaths in to collect himself and eventually he looked up at her. When he nodded, signalling that he was ready, Peggy dialed into her black flip phone the number she knew from memory but had abandoned thinking of as of late. She was already dealing with Howard and she had no qualms with Maria she just knew Howard wouldn’t be happy about it. But she was doing this for Tony. That’s what made it alright. With a confident motion, she pressed dial and speaker. The sound of the call being directed reverberated through the secure, nearly empty room before the distinct noise of a hinged picked up call sounded. Tony went completely still and silent. His rigid posture teaming with energy and exhaustion. The voice was staticy but no less warm and soft than the last time he heard it on that cursed day he regretted so much.

  


“Hello, this is Maria Stark. May I ask who’s calling?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OwO things are taking an emotional turn. I’m as amazed as you guys are at how fast I whipped up this chapter, wow. I didn't want you all to have to wait any longer than you had to. Sorry this isn't the Howard and Peter confrontation but that is underway. How are you guys liking it? Did you expect this little twist? Just let me know. Also I'm bending the laws of physics for the sake of a fic hell yah. It's hard to be subtle you guys~  
> I couldn't find an age for Sharon Carter so I just made her two years older than her actress. She wont be in this its just a little Easter egg


	6. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Howard have a little talk.

As the door closed behind Tony’s worried expression, Peter took a moment to admire the surprisingly spacious area to distract himself from looking at the other occupants of the room. The ceiling was raised higher than normal and the windows while more sparse than at the Avengers Compound let in a generous amount of light. Peter was politely being silent, stuck sitting in the general vicinity with a respectful group of strangers. Tony had left with Peggy and Fury to look at the security cam footage. He knew Tony was reluctant to leave him there without his ever watchful eye and Peter had noticed now how Tony had really turned into a helicopter parent but in this situation it seemed reasonable. Peter had nowhere else to go so he took a moment to appreciate how ludacris it was to have these particular people around him.

  


Howard Stark was stalking the group with his eyes, clearly in deep contemplation. If Peter wasn’t hallucinating, then the founder of Stark Industries kept looking at him in particular which was odd and uncomfortable. Something else he was struggling to believe was that Captain freaking America was left in the same room as Peter, who in any other situation he would be gushing over though maybe not as much after seeing how he interacted with Tony. The Captain of freedom was stationed next to the man with the gruff voice and long walnut locks. If the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and also apparently Tony’s Aunt was to be believed, and Peter was pretty sure she was, the man sitting next to Steve Rogers was the lost Howling Commando, Bucky Barnes. He was once the once suspected terrorist who attacked the UN two years ago, well, in 2016. He wasn’t the one who had done it but people weren’t sure where he was. Peter had wondered about it once when he was talking to MJ and Ned about it but he knew once the Avengers had gathered in Wakanda.

  


It was a few minutes before anyone said anything, all of them to lost in their thoughts. Surprisingly, it was Bucky Barnes to speak first,

  


“It makes sense. It will be easier make sure we minimize impact if they keep us in one place and watch us.” The soldier was most likely only addressing Steve but Peter had heard anyway. “I know you’re not big on waiting, Steve, but I guess we have to.” Bucky shrugged making his way towards the square table set up with four chairs that looked like they hadn’t seen a day of use before. One of them occupied by a silent Peter Parker, still in neck to toe in his Iron Spider suit, a little intimidated as the large man took the seat furthest from him. 

  


Steve was left thinking. Just a little bit ago, Steve was ready to go into battle so of course he was antsy. “I guess they just expect us to wait, right, Howard?”

  


“For now yes. We need to run more tests around where you showed up. It's not a great situation to be stuck in,” as Howard surveyed those in the room as he addressed Rogers, his eyes lingered on the youngest occupant just a bit too long.

  


Steve huffed in frustration. “We could be with the rest of the team but we’re stuck here while a war goes on.”

  


“Not necessarily,” Peter thought to point out.

  


“What do you mean, kid?” Bucky prompted.

  


“Well, given that the war actually won’t be for a few decades from 1989, we aren’t actually missing it until we figure out a way to get back and solidify when we in fact do go back. I think it actually won’t do any harm to wait. Time limit wise, I don’t think we are really restricted.”

  


“You’ve thought about this, haven’t you?” Steve inquired, now finally being able to broach the suspicion he had about this kid in the back of his mind. Peter, who happened to be Spider-Man, spent an awful lot of time around Tony Stark. Enough time for them to be familiar with one another. A Tony Stark who made his suit, obviously, and thought of himself as a ‘mentor’ to the boy. It was all highly suspect given what he knew of Tony as a person. Peter was chipper as he responded,

  


“Of course. Thinking about this helps distract me. I have hope we will get out of here but seeing as none of us can do anything yet all we can do is wait.” Peter’s voice was just short of confident but the assured look in his eyes keyed Steve into the fact he had faith in something and he was betting he knew which something or rather someone he had faith in.

  


Steve hated to be complacent and sit still when he felt as if he could be doing more but this time around it really seemed as though he couldn’t help. The kid at least had a point. The present founding member of the Avengers sighed out something tired and frustrated before he sat down at what must have been a small dining room table alongside Bucky and Peter.

  


“Either way, this sucks,” Peter slumped a bit in his claimed chair, waiting on Tony to return.

  


“Eloquently said.” Captain Rogers spoke up, of course he had heard Peter’s comment with advanced hearing. Peter had seen more of Captain America in the PSAs he was forced to sit through at school than he had in real life. It was an odd situation for all of them for sure.

  


“So kid,” Steve began, attempting to grab the kid’s attention. Peter looked up as he pulled out a worn navy hoodie, planning on either wearing it or using it as a cushion for his tired brain. In the end, he decided to shrug it on over his Iron Spider suit, he didn’t mind and the room was quite cool anyways.

  


“Yes, Mr. Captain Rogers,” Peter started politely while he evened out his hoodie’s drawstrings. 

  


Steve hadn't had the luxury of time to ask what the deal was with Spider-Man but now he supposed he did. “So Peter, we never formally met.”

  


“Oh, yes. I’m Peter,” the kid omitted his last name, eyes glancing towards Howard but kept his head still.

  


“I gathered that. Steve Rogers,” he offered.

  


“I already knew that, too. It’s kind of hard not to know who you are.” Steve actually chuckled at that. Peter’s tone was shy but a bit of the delivery and the words themselves reminded Steve of the Tony back when they were still friends. Steve’s musings, however, were interrupted by the serious, nearly considerate voice of Howard Stark. A man who had changed greatly since the days Steve would had referred to him as a friend.

  


“Excuse me, Steve, but may I have a moment alone with Peter.”

  


Steve didn’t see anything wrong with the request, if anything happened, both Steve and Bucky would be able to hear it in minute detail. Howard most likely arrived at the same assumption Steve had and wanted to confront Peter about it himself. “Sure, I don’t seem any harm in that.”

  


Howard nodded and motioned for the kid to follow. Peter was pulled into one of the few other rooms, one that appeared to be a bedroom of sorts, that connected to the main area of the suit by Howard’s presence alone though the hand on his shoulder guiding him was uncomfortable even for its lack of force. Howard easily closed the door once Peter joined him, an odd remnant of the memory of when Tony had met Peter for the first time crossed the spiderling’s mind.

  


Howard Stark seemed almost upset at Peter’s presence. Scratch that. More conflicted and perplexed. Tony had expressed his distaste of his father to Peter but now it was on a whole new level of understanding now that Peter was there to see it for himself. Peter had planned on being respectful but not if Howard planned to backtalk Tony. Or worse, that’s just how he spoke about his son.

  


Howard had already accosted Tony several times while they were here and it had been less than an hour. If this is what he was like to an adult Tony, Peter couldn’t imagine how it was to live through that sort of parenting while growing up.

  


Peter wasn't sure how to proceed dealing with the man. He was already upset after seeing what could have been the bare minimum he was willing to do to Tony. He wasn’t very fond of Howard Stark’s thoughts on the man Peter started to refer to as his dad so far and he wondered what he could possibly need to tell Peter alone besides that.  
So far, Howard had been blatantly disrespectful and dismissive of his mentor and father figure and it was down right infuriating to see someone shut down Tony so completely only for Tony to try to charm himself into thinking he was alright. 

  


After all, Howard Stark was a hugely influential figure in history specifically in science. He’d never thought he'd get to meet him given the obvious fact he died ten years before Peter was born. That all seemed eclipsed now that he had met Howard and saw the disrespect and disregard towards Peter’s own father figure. Howard Stark was quickly turning out to be as good as any other scumbag. It was shocking to actually witness it even if Tony had told him once when he had panicked over being in Peter's life that his father and he never had a good relationship. “A troubled childhood,” Peter had recalled a documentary referring to Tony Stark that was left on while Aunt May and Uncle Ben were cooking. He never wanted to press on the subject with Tony, too afraid he was crossing the line with his mentor but time would bring him closer to the man and Tony eventually relayed some information to him.

  


Howard Stark was the reason for Tony’s aversion to emotions. No wonder Tony sought to shelter Peter as soon as he had heard his father’s voice. It was so different from the way Peter felt around the first father figure he could really remember, Uncle Ben, and then later with Tony. He felt secure around Tony and Tony looked out for him. Peter looked up to the man who had so easily become a part of his life.

  


But Peter knew from the way Tony acted and the little he had said about growing up that that sort of thing was absent from his and Howard’s relationship. That safety and trust had never been the case with Howard and his son. It was upsetting because Peter knew that Tony deserved a whole lot more than that. That thought alone sparked something inside Peter even as it felt like a shark was circling Peter.

  


Howard’s eyes scanned the boy before him, looking for something before the man ultimately spoke up,

  


“How are you doing, Peter?” The question felt odd and almost stunted.

  


“Fine I guess,” Peter answered confused.

  


“I wanted to talk to you on your own. I was curious about my son and it looks like you know him well enough.” The flippant yet focused way he spoke had the opposite effect on Peter than when Tony spoke like that. Peter had to fight the urge to back away.

  


“I guess one could say that, yah.”

  


“Though, I can’t imagine Tony’s changed too much, what with how he easily argued with Captain Rogers and couldn’t treat Agent Fury with an ounce of respect. He’s someone who never really learns no matter how much he messes up,” Howard couldn’t help but let his mouth run in front of the boy. Peter’s fingers twitched at the comments.

  


“I don’t think you know what Tony is like now. He’s a great engineer, inspiring as a superhero, and one of the best people I know,” Peter stood defiantly.

  


“I know because I am his father and I have known that Tony was never one to get in line. He doesn’t know what responsibility is.” His voice was firm and self assured. 

  


“From where I’m standing it looks like you’re the one who doesn’t know what that is,” Peter responded easily though he almost choked on his words. 

  


“Excuse me,” was the older Stark’s voice, clearly unimpressed. Howard thought about how boy had clearly tried to be nothing but helpful in their investigation so far but this behavior was strikingly similar to the Tony he knew. The boy was being disrespectful and undermining Howard’s words.

  


Peter was also wrapped in his own thoughts about the man opposite him. Could Howard Stark not see how great Tony was? Or at least treat him with some respect? What was his problem? To Peter, there was a stark contrast between the two. A difference that easily separated the two genius Starks, no matter what the tabloids and documentaries and declassified files said. Tony Stark cared about Peter about his well being, his home life, his school life, his aspirations and his happiness above most of that. Tony was one of the most caring people he knew next to Aunt May. He constantly concerned himself with Peter’s needs even when he didn’t have to. He would ask him about school, help him on projects and make dinner for Peter. He treated Peter, well, like a son. He looked up from his frustration to see Howard staring right back. 

  


Howard then began a different vein of questioning. A more direct one where Howard’s suspicion was met with a more anxious but no less resistant Peter.

  


“Who are you to Tony?” It was like Howard was accusing Peter of something, looking over his face and then Peter’s suit, no doubt taking note of how his outfit had similar enough technology and design to Tony’s in comparison to the other hands-on soldiers from the future. Howard’s eyes said he knew it was indicative of something, something he was piecing together.

  


“And I’d like to ask you what’s your problem?” Howard’s eyes narrowed at Peter’s non-answers and hostile tone. The elder Stark was getting fed up with his obstinate words and wanted to get to the bottom of this without the kid being difficult. The kid that was starting to remind him a lot of his own which only fueled his lack of calm.

  


“If you don’t answer, I’ll just assume the worst,” Howard pressed. 

  


“And what would that be?” Peter crossed his arms defiantly. Peter felt bolder than he had before standing up to Tony’s father Howard Stark no less. The man was intimidating, that was for sure but he had almost sputtered at Peter’s words which was a small victory.

  


Howard attempted to calm himself and quell the boy. “Listen, I just want to know what is the connection between you and my son because I hardly believe he is just your mentor. I think I’ve figured it out but I just wanted some confirmation because obviously Tony is being too difficult to get anything out of.”

  


Peter was more confident now then he had been but he was struggling not to crumble under Howard’s calculating gaze. He was staring himself, straining his nervous interior trying to level his gaze with this historical man standing a head above him. In the back of his mind, he felt the desire to shrink in on himself but he couldn’t allow it. For Tony’s sake he couldn’t allow it. Tony had been such a great influence in his life he couldn’t imagine not defending him.

  


“My dad has more to worry about than dealing with you,” Peter bit down on his lip at his own words.

  


Howard didn’t miss a beat with Peter’s slip up. “And how old are you, son?”

  


“I’m sixteen and I’m not your son.” Peter crossed his arms. Howard looked smug at being proven right.

  


“Well if I’m right, you are by a generation of association.” This could be the closest he’d ever get to seeing a grandchild and he was being met with an equal amount of hostility than what he got from present day Tony. Howard had hoped for better after the kid had been mostly respectful this whole time until Howard had chosen to speak to him.

  


“Obviously, he hasn’t done the best for you as a father if your the one being dragged into a war at sixteen. I would never do that. I have some sense as a father.” With those words, Peter found himself now actually seething with rage and pointing towards arguably the most influential engineer and scientist of the 20th century.

  


“You don’t know anything so don’t act like it. My dad’s a thousand times better than you in every way. Don't act like your concern for me comes from your heart. I know exactly what kind of father you were and that was a piss poor one.” He hadn’t even realized they were shouting at this point, disrupting the people in the next room and alerting them to their little spat.

  


……………….

  


Bucky eyed Steve at the hushed argument taking place beyond the door separating them from Howard and Peter. In all honestly, Bucky and Steve hadn’t expected the kid to bite back at Howard like that. The boy was weary and concerned about the presence of the older Stark that was for sure, that Steve could see but this was something else.

  


Bucky abruptly stood up and inched towards the door, his expression conflicted. It was obvious to Steve as to why Bucky was making himself so scarce this whole time, it only made sense. He didn't want to do anything to garner Howard’s attention but now it seemed like they had another problem at hand and Steve was worried he would have step in before an argument broke out.

  


They could almost clearly hear the two having a louder discourse than just a disagreement and Steve marveled a bit at the staggering display of courage it must have taken for Peter to stand up to Howard while the old man was incensed. Peter’s efforts were commendable but Steve was worried this would get out of hand. Before he could intervene, the entrance to the suite opened.

  


……………….

  


Tony was trying to not think about his puffy eyes or the ache in his heart. The call to his mother had been emotional but Peggy had been helpful in getting him ready to be in front of others again. Not only was this supposed chance time travel confusing. It was uncomfortable. And those were two things Tony hated. Tony’s feelings on his father were complicated and now he had to face him again. Peggy held a stack of papers, the ones he was planning to look over in greater detail, as she nodded to Fury who had stationed himself outside the suite. Fury opened the door to the suite they had left Peter and company in and proceeded to lead them into the room but he turned back to the two he led, brows bent downwards. That’s when Tony heard the muffled shouting.

  


Tony's mood changed instantly as soon as he got a glimpse of the room and its occupants. Two of them were missing. Peter and Howard. With that observation, anxiety drenched his every thought.

  


“Where are Peter and Howard?” Tony quickly pointed to Steve, hands shaking as he stepped past Fury and Peggy. 

  


“They’re over in that room,” Steve looked concerned himself and Barnes was standing looking at the room like he was ready to break in.

  


Steve and Bucky looked rather shocked at Tony’s show of concern and protectiveness. Tony wasn’t surprised. They weren’t as aware of how much of the Tony they knew was that confident constructed front created to deal with the press and his father but Tony didn't care as he rushed towards the door Steve had gestured to. It was wishful thinking that this wouldn’t happen. Of course Howard would be nosy enough to take it upon himself to question Peter.

  


Tony burst into the room only to be met with Howard towering imposingly above Peter, cut off mid shout as Peter stood, brows dipped in disapproval of the older man.

  


“Peter, go outside and wait with Aunt Peggy.” Tony didn’t spare his father a look, more focused on Peter’s safety. Peter looked between the two Starks, looking as if there were words on the tip of his tongue, however, he did walk out of the room, a glare pointing at Howard only breaking once he was out of view. Howard kept looking at Tony as if he was the one who had gone ballistic which was rich.

  


Tony and Peter had grown close these last two years. Enough for Tony to feel comfortable telling him the bare minimum of the troubles he had with his father but he never elaborated. He hadn’t wanted to bother the kid with something that couldn’t be helped. He had ended up dumping his life story in short on the kid so it was no wonder that Peter would try and defend him. It must have taken the kid a staggering amount of bravado to stand up to Howard and now Howard’s face was red with his own anger. The kid must have taken to being snarky with the man, a behavior he had picked up from Tony in the past year. Tony could never conquer his father’s expectations of him but Peter had no problem telling him off for his own adoptive dad.

  


Tony had been dealing with his father since being stuck here but now Howard had gone out of his way to seclude Peter to question him. The very boy Tony had unofficially adopted but in a very real sense was a part of his family. The one who’s aunt made sure to name Tony the guardian for in case anything happened to her, not having any other relatives left alive. The kid Tony would do anything for and now Howard dared to overstep himself to intimidate.

  


Tony let the door swing close with a bang, not that it seemed to bother or shock his father. He just stood there looking smug and disapprovingly like he had in so many of Tony’s memories.

  


“So where did you get your kid?” Tony’s stomach flipped at Howard’s address of Peter.

  


“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Howard looked rather dissatisfied with his answer like always.

  


Howard gestured with his hand vaguely, looking for a way to word his next statement. “I’m just wondering if he’s a result of some sort of-”

  


“Some what? Result of ‘promiscuous’ behavior,” Tony cut him off. “How judgemental of you.” Tony slighted and spoke again before he could be interrupted himself. “No, he’s my kid by adoption. It doesn’t make him any less mine.” Howard appeared surprised at the proclamation, clearly he must have thought Tony would only have a kid if he had made a mistake in his past and was forced to take the child in. It wasn’t surprising, it was only a few short years ago that Tony thought the same way about himself. But now, now things were different. Tony had chosen to have Peter in his life and not once did he regret it.

  


“And he’s happy living with you I assume?” Howard seemed to almost calm down a bit.

  


“With me and my fiancé. Of course he’s happy. His aunt is great with him, we couldn’t do this without her.” That part was true as was the implication that Peter did live with Tony. Peter tended to stay a few days out of the week with Tony and Pepper, most of those being weekends.

  


“So this fiancé, she’s okay with a kid that’s not hers?” Howard couldn’t possibly know about Pepper, but the words were no less insulting, damning her character. Tony took a deep breath.

  


“Of course. She loves Peter. She’d do anything for him.” Howard seemed thoughtful before he had to ruin the moment.

  


“That’s a nice thought. So you’re letting someone tie you down. That doesn’t sound like the Tony I know.” Howard slipped his hands into his pockets, looking much to at home telling Tony who he was.

  


“Well, you don’t know me, Dad, because I’m not that Tony you know,” he emphasized. “I’m Nearly thirty years older than your Tony from 1989. Some things are bound to change about me. What? Can you not picture me living happily in the future?"

  


"Do you lead cushy life in the future, Tony?" Howard questioned, voice hostile.

  


"Let me make things abundantly clear, Howard,” Tony spat. “You are to stay away from Peter. I don’t need you messing with him.” His voice was firm and riddled with anxiety.

  


“What have I done to offend you?” were Howard’s incredulous words.

  


“Where do I begin?” Snorted Tony, but it was haggard and anxious.

  


“You seem very bothered by me trying to speak to your kid. What, a man can’t get to know his own grandson?” Tony’s blood pressure spiked as his eyes narrowed dangerously at Howard’s words daring to claim he had any deserved place in Peter’s life. “Why won't you let me talk to Peter. Let’s hear it, Tony,” Howard ordered his grown son.

  


Tony openly glared at his father. “If you haven’t realized, I’ve grown up. I don’t have to do what you say.”

  


“Funny, from where I’m standing you haven’t grown up at all,” Howard smirked under his white facial hair. Tony’s tone became deadly,

  


“Listen here, dad. I’m not giving you a chance to get to know my kid here because I can’t deal with the consequences of how you might mess up him up like you messed me up.”

  


“Really, Tony? You’re going to blame me for your bad behavior?” His father spoke up in his own defense. Howard had the audacity to accuse Tony of being the sole reason for all his mistakes, or at least the reason he went down the path he had, and delusionally wipe his own hands clean of any fault.

  


“In case you weren’t aware, Howard, we weren’t like how Peter and I are and now. I show Peter I care and tell him I am proud of him and that I love him. You didn’t do any of that. I’m trying to make up for my mistakes. I’ve got my own team and my own family so back off. You have no right to tell me how to parent. You had your obsessions and drinking, drinking that you passed onto me. Something I actually cared enough about my kid enough to cut out of my life. Instead, you drove everyone away. You drove Aunt Peggy away with your drinking and your obnoxious behavior and your need to control everything. You forced mom and I to deal with your toxic behavior. I would never do that to my son. I put Peter first, before my ego, before the company, before everything. I protect him as much as I can and I’m pretty sure I’m helping him become a competent adult because I care about his future and who he wants to become.” The resounding silence that followed was deafening.

  


Howard was left staring at his son. No smart comment fell from his lips as he tried to comprehend everything his son had said and what kind of influence he had actually had been in Tony’s life for his son to blow up at him like this.

  


Tony had heard himself go off the rails and it was shocking to hear forty plus years of pent up aggression being pointed at Howard. Howard had wanted him to live up to unrealistic expectations and unlike his father, Tony wanted Peter to become his own and not live in Tony’s shadow. Peter didn’t need Howard’s toxic influence in his life. With that thought, Tony solidified his conclusion.

  


“I’m warning you, Howard, stay away from my kid,” and with that Howard knew his son meant it. This man was very intentional with his words, unlike the often intoxicated boy he knew to be his Tony Stark. This Tony’s serious tone continued as he added something. “I’m done with you. I don't need your approval. I have more important things to worry about,” Tony finished out, mouth set in a firm line. Tony turned towards the door, right hand gripping the doorknob, fully prepared to make his exit.

  


“I did what I thought was best for you, Tony.” It was more faded and smaller than his other comments, almost earnest but something was off. He hadn’t let any of his ego go. He was in deep denial, still he thinking he knew what was right. Tony refrained from looking at his father.

  


“For me or for you because I’m not really sure you could ever tell the difference,” and before his father could process how deep those words went, Tony walked out and slammed the door, not caring that everyone had heard their discourse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I’m not projecting anything at all hehe. I think this is my longest chapter yet with +4800k words, really wanted to draw it out for you guys clamoring for this interaction. This one was just great to write and felt really cathartic for me. It was fun to just slap Howard across the face via words of confident father and son Tony and Peter. A lot of you guys expected this but was this what you were hoping for? What did you guys think? Comments really help me know what you guys are thinking or what you noticed (as well as motivate me). I’m going to let you know now that it may be a bit until the next chapter as I’m going through some personal stuff right now.
> 
> On another note, it's the Fourth of July and you know what that means! Happy Steve Rogers Birthday everyone!.
> 
> If anyone wants to check out my other fic I’m kinda really proud of, Avengers DadSquad Assemble!, please do. It’s much more fluff and a tone more avengers are in it. Feel free to let me know about that one too. I don’t really get as much interaction there as i do here but I’m glad so many people enjoy my work anyways.


	7. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Tony take some time to rest. A meeting takes place.

The tension in the air was so palpable one could cut through it with a butter knife. Everyone stood in their place stock still, all turned towards Peter. Peter’s face was red from anger and now embarrassment. The spiderling’s most prevalent thoughts in the moment fell away as Peter’s adrenaline began wearing off and the implications of what he had just done really sank in. He was sure he was in a deep load of trouble now. He had a shouting match with Tony’s father, the head of Stark Industries heard by Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter and Nick Fury. The worst of all, in front of his dad. But when Peter actually examined Tony’s face the moment he had pushed Peter from the room that held Howard Stark, Peter realized that Tony wouldn’t fault him for defending him when he started to hear the discussion. Tony was defending Peter and himself and was really only angry with Howard. Tony’s words were violent and full of true emotions. 

  


Peter remembered how at first, when he had only just met his adoptive father, he thought maybe Tony felt like he had to deal with Peter after investing so much in Spider-Man. Peter hadn’t really thought he impacted Tony’s life all that much let alone changed it for the better. Over time, he had become more and more sure of Tony’s love for him. That Tony wanted Peter in his life, that it all wasn’t just wishful thinking. 

  


Tony had reentered the large common room, the last loud noise a slam behind him. Tony wasn’t sure who he wanted to glare at more but the thought didn’t seem all that productive so he just settled on making sure Peter was comfortable. 

  


A moment later Howard emerged from the adjoined bedroom, stopping a moment as every head pivoted to him. Howard looked conflicted and resentful with all the eyes on him. He just excused himself from the suite, striding out of the room and ignoring it’s occupants. Tony didn’t know where Howard was going but as long as he was away from Peter, he didn’t care.

  


“That was shocking to see,” Bucky whispered to Steve, not knowing what else to say in the tense atmosphere. Bucky marveled at how Peter and Tony sure had given Howard the business and Howard stormed out, hopefully in shame, as a result.

  


“What’s your dad's problem?” Peter spoke, still a little sour.

  


“Huh? Oh, you know. High standards for me. Loves to think I’m not good enough. I don’t want you to think about that right now.” Tony looked more tired than a washed up celebrity. “Listen, kid, I don’t want you hanging around Howard.”

  


“Okay. I won't.”

  


"Good." Tony huffed, attempting to break the tension he had helped create. “Hey, Aunt Peggy. Can you get some actual clothes for Peter in the meantime?”

  


“We’ll get you some regular clothes you can temporarily use, don’t worry. I have some being sent up within the hour for all of you.”

  


“Oh cool, retro clothes. I can keep this when we go to the future, right? Tony knows I won’t turn down retro anything.”

  


“Yah, yah, yah. I know you love repurposing any old tech you can get your hands on. Especially from the dumpster. Would you rather stay here in the 80’s, kid?”

  


“Nah, I’m good with going back home. It's kinda like what Michelle, um, MJ says not to look on the past with rose tinted glasses. I’m glad with all the social progress and technology we’ve got in our time just fine compared to the fashion here.” Tony rolled his eyes, a smile finally reaching his face once more.

  


“Just remind me to take them with us but I’ve got some for now.” Peter pointed out, fishing out clothes from his pack. “Speaking of which, how do I get out of this new suit?”

  


“Ah, right. Tap your fingers twice on the spider logo on your chest.” Peter did so and the metal suit retracted into a backpack-like canister hanging on his back under his hoodie, revealing his normal blue and red friendly neighborhood spider costume underneath. “It will graph to you again if you tap the top of the left strap or by voice command.”

  


“That’s so cool, Dad. I love it.” Peter let himself slip, everyone in the room had heard the argument. They already knew. Peter took off his hoodie to get a look at it on his back but left the Iron Spider Backpack on for the moment and gathered his clothes. “Um, is there a place to change? Maybe shower, too?”

  


Peggy giggled a bit feeling some levity return to her again at seeing the fumbling boy. “Yes, there is. You two can take either of the suites.”

  


“How about the other one?” Tony subtly eyed both Steve and Bucky.

  


“Sure, I’ll open it for you. Steve, you and Barnes make yourselves comfortable in this suite, I guess it’s been decided it’s yours now.” Peggy pivoted on her right leg, gray hair spinning with her to the next room. Peter followed Peggy to the opposite end of the kitchen to another double door entrance, swiping a keycard on a panel on the wall before she pushed it open. Tony followed after her, grabbing Peter’s slumping backpack from the dining table.

  


“I’m going to go change and maybe wash my hair a bit, then. Which one’s the bathroom?” Peggy pointed and Peter bounded over to it, already back to his high energy self.

  


Now that the two adults were alone, Peggy took it upon herself to mention Tony’s previous encounter with Howard, even given how fresh it was. “I take it in the future you hadn’t had the chance to say any of that to your father or have Peter meet him.” Tony’s posture sank at her words.

  


“No. I never did.” That's all he needed to say, Peggy caught on. They sat in mutual silence until a few minutes later, Peter returned, hair wet and regular clothes on. “I was wondering since Peggy’s designated as our secret keeper we can probably show her pictures right?”

  


“You want to show me pictures now,” she teased. 

  


“Don’t you want to take a peek at the future? We would be able to show you on our phones if you want.” Peggy got a taste of the future in the form of a slick thin bar of black metal in Peter’s palm. “This is my smartphone. I’ve got loads of photos I can show you on it.” He turned the screen towards him, tapping on the bottom of it before his eyes widened and he swore to himself. “Oh shoot, my phone charger.” Rummaging through the bag before he grabbed onto a long black cord and two pronged square wall charger. “Got it! Wait. Do you think if I plug in my phone it will explode?”

  


“Pete, what do you even mean?”

  


“Because of time-space continuum or something,” Peter spoke, gesturing wildly as Tony rolled his eyes as if questions like these filled his daily life. 

  


“It will be fine, just charge it.”

  


Peter apprehensively plugged in his StarkPhone into the wall, relieved when it didn’t blow up instead chiming to signal that it was indeed being charged two plus decades before it was even conceived. The phone didn’t seemed to be damaged which was good as it was a replacement one Tony had Peter exchange to after he saw the state of the shattered iPhone 3 he had a year ago.

  


“We’ll just have to wait then... Oof.” Peter had landed himself with a thump on the middle of the couch.

  


“Okay, kid, scooch.” Peter’s slouched form moved a bit, sliding over on the couch to give some room for Tony. Tony usually wasn’t the one to openly show any affection, but with only his Aunt Peggy here he had no problem wrapping his arm around Peter to give him a short hug.

  


“What do you suggest we spend our time doing, Peggy?”

  


“Let’s see, I’m sure there’s something on the television you can watch.”

  


“Sure, let's go with that, nothing better to do anyways.” That and it would help Tony keep his mind off the explosive argument he had with his father. Peggy handed him over the remote to the box TV and excused herself from the room to deal with other S.H.I.E.L.D. matters for a while.

  


An hour or two passed before Peggy had returned and the curtains were mostly drawn with the exception of two of the eight long windows in the room, but the light in the sky was falling quickly.

  


Peter had grown tired letting out a yawn as he slowly binked until his eyes stayed closed. It was amazing to Tony that the kid felt comfortable enough around him to fall asleep under his arms.

  


“He was certainly buzzing with energy earlier,” came Peggy’s soft voice, alerting Tony that she had made her way around the kitchen to them.

  


“It was a long day, I guess. It’s probably also because he hasn’t eaten much.”

  


“Well, I’ll be sure to get you guys something sent here in a bit.” Peggy seemed content to watch them from her place on the further end of the sofa. “He seems like a great kid.”

  


“Other people did the hard work in raising him. I just showed up.”

  


“But you took him in. That takes a lot.” Maybe Tony had become more responsible in his later years. Peggy leaned over her crossed legs to peer at the dozing teenager at Tony’s side. Peter was hugging his Iron Spider canister, his left cheek squished between the couch cushion and Tony’s side. “You’ve both certainly have made yourselves at home.”

  


“Can I have a bed or maybe even a blanket, Aunt Peggy?” Just a few hours ago, it felt odd for Tony to call her something he hadn’t in so long but the words just rolled off his lips and now they felt comforting and familiar. He gestured lamely to Peter who had nodded off, “I need to tuck this one in.”

  


“Of course,” she hummed. Peggy got up and fetched a dark gray blanket from a wardrobe before handing it over to Tony.

  


“Thanks, Aunt Peggy,” Tony smiled before turning his grin to Peter. “Come on, kid. Let's get you all wrapped up. Wouldn’t want you dying of exposure.” Tony walked Peter over to the bedroom door.

  


“I’ll go ask the others if they want any food as well, do you want to come?”

  


“I’ll wait in the room with him it’s no problem.” He pulled the single cushioned chair to Peter’s bedside.

  


“Don't strain yourself. You need rest too. Maybe take that glowing armor thing off,that can’t be comfortable.”

  


“I know, I know,” he waved off. “But this stays with me.” Tony patted his armor’s reactor. “Best insurance in case of an attack.”

  


“Be honest, Tony, how do you feel?”

  


“Like my internal clock is way off. It’s odd. It’s like jet lag but more intense.” Peggy hummed at his words.

  


“Would you like a drink?” She eyed him, her expression flat though he swore her brow was arched.

  


“No, I’m good.” Tony responded before a beat passed and he spoke up again. “Actually, I’m craving a coffee.” She smiled, he apparently had passed her little test.

  


“I’ll make sure to get that for you.” She observed the man who had placed the blanket on his soon. “You certainly have changed a lot, Tony. It’s a good thing.”

  


“I’m not perfect, not by a long shot, but that kid in there makes me want to be better.”

  


“I know this isn't ideal situation. Any of this. But I am glad that I was able to see you. Honestly, I thought you may end up a lot like Howard the way you are now, I mean the Tony from my time and how he is. I’m glad I was wrong.” Her charming smile was nice to see before she left the room.

  


Peter’s eyes squinted opened. "How long was I asleep?”

  


“Not too long, just a few minutes. I’ll get you some actual food to eat. Why don’t you just wait here.” Tony made a vague motion to the room. Peter noticed something odd about Tony’s expression.

  


“What are you thinking about?”

  


“Just, I can’t believe Howard. He’s the person I never wanted to be.”

  


“Well, you’re not like that, Tony. I think you're a great dad.”

  


“Thanks, Pete. How did I ever deserve such a great kid?”

  


“I don’t know. I think it may have to do with how awesome you are.” Tony didn't deserve a kid as good as Peter. Peter respected Tony far more than Tony had ever respected Howard. Peter trusted Tony. He wasn’t his father, that's what Rhodey had said. That’s what Pepper assured. He never would be. That’s what he had always hoped. Howard had barely given him the time of day. Tony had never been good enough for him. Peter constantly exceeded at being a better person than Tony had ever been and Tony praised him for it, pride swelling in his chest. They were different. 

  


An abrupt noise interrupted them, the opening of the door joining the two suites.

  


“Tony, your mother and Mister Jarvis are here. I think you should take a few minutes to gather yourself while I go get them.”

  


“Tony... Dad… Are you alright?” Peter placed a hand on Tony’s forearm, brows knit together in concern. Tony huffed out something quick as he wiped his nose and his eyes. He took a deep breath and looked at his kid. His son.

  


“Yes, I’m just getting ready I suppose. You know I suck at emotional stuff.” Tony tore his gaze from the past to the boy next to him. “What do you think, bud. Want to meet my mom?”  
  
……………………

  


Peggy had entered Steve and Bucky’s accommodations from the adjoining door after a good hour or two from when Howard had stormed out, disgruntled. They had heard laughter and warm voices between the walls after Peggy, Peter and Tony had disappeared.

  


“Sorry you two. I got caught up with some information those boys were sharing with me.”

  


“It’s no problem.” A calm settled between Steve and Peggy but Bucky wasn’t all that sure what his place here was, shuffling to cover his metal arm from her view.

  


“How are you two holding up?”

  


“I’m good, what about you, Buck?” Bucky just shrugged with an agreeable look on his face. Peggy bit her cheek, now for the harder questions.

  


“So, while Tony and I were gone, what happened?”

  


“Howard asked to talk to the kid alone, I didn’t see any reason to stop him if they wanted privacy. I should had known as soon as I saw Peter’s face.”

  


“They were arguing… about Tony. It was rather uncomfortable.”

  


“Jesus, this is why Howard and I don’t work together anymore. I never approved of the way he treated his son and now he thinks to bring the next generation into it. Unbelievable.” The silence held for a good bit before Bucky broached the subject.

  


“I take it he wasn’t a very good father.” Peggy sighed something heavy with the weight of all her years.

  


“No, he wasn’t. Howard is a brilliant engineer but I don't think he was ever fit to be a parent. Nor do I think he ever wanted to be. I’m glad Tony didn’t follow in his footsteps on that.”

  


“That’s too bad.” Steve sobered up his thoughts, now understanding a lot of Tony’s behavior in retrospect. This behavior of Howard’s must have followed Tony his entire life. Steve was feeling even worse about everything now. Everything Tony had been through, why he had bristled at authority, bristled at Steve. He remembered Tony saying that his father was Captain America’s biggest fan, his voice having a bitter back to it. Steve could only imagine what Tony had been through and why Tony had such an apprehension to him in the first place.

  


“We’ll deal with Howard soon enough, in the meantime, I was wondering what food I can get sent up here for you. I’m afraid it will have to be from the cafeteria.”

  


“That would be great, Peggy.”

  


“I think I have a list somewhere of what we serve, just give me an… ah!” Peggy stopped rummaging through the various papers in a drawer with a single piece of laminated paper in hand. “Here, Steve take a look at this.” Steve took the page and began to look over it, letting Peggy move closer to Bucky, a complex perplexed expression dawning on her face. 

  


“You know, I always wanted to get to know you better, Barnes.”

  


“Really?” He didn’t believe her but then again was hard to tell with Peggy. Bucky had known her for a while but many of his memories of World War II without Steve were foggy. He could recall their crew and definitely that Peggy was there. He knew he was more rugged looking and less clean shaven than when she knew him, he just wasn’t so sure about how much they had talked. 

  


“Yes. Steve always spoke so highly of you. You were his motivation to get into the war. To go get you. He saved the 107th because you were there. I figured you must be great to warrant that sort of dedication. Plus, in the war we hardly had the time to speak to one another.” Bucky hummed in response, still trying to edge away from her. Peggy rolled her eyes, having enough of his nonsense and began to criticize,

  


“Barnes, I’m not going to do anything to you. I damn well have no reason to, so stop hiding. If it's about the arm, I’ll let you know right now I’m not bothered by it.”

  


“You noticed?” It wasn't a remarkable feat but he had hoped to stay out of her line of sight. Bucky flexed his fingers, both his flesh and metal digits.

  


“Of course I noticed, I’m sixty eight, not blind. Now why do you think I’d have a problem with it?” Bucky stayed quiet for some time before he murmured out,

  


“I’m not so sure.” The statement sounded like he was questioning his own logic at this point.

  


“See, no harm, no foul. You don’t have to hide from me, Barnes. I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.” Her eyes were softer this time around and Bucky could tell that Steve was listening intently to them, glancing up above the paper in his hand.

  


Peggy got a call while she was attempted to continue ask Steve about food, trying to ignore the awkward tension built up after Howard had stormed out. When she clicked the mobile phone closed, she turned to Steve again,

  


“I’m sorry, Steve, Bucky, but someone has just arrived and I need to take care of something.”

  


“Of course, Peggy. Can I ask who it is?” Steve questioned.

  


“I suppose.” Peggy tapped her finger on the kitchen’s granite countertop. “Tony requested I call Maria Stark and Mr. Edwin Jarvis. They are here now to meet this older Tony from your time.” Peggy continued even with how she noticed Steve and Bucky tense up at the names, “I suppose it only makes sense that he would want to, I’ve gathered what must have happened or will be going to happen. I would advise you stay in your suite during their visit. I don’t want you to be detained like prisoners but I think it may be for the best.” Steve’s face grew serious at those words, his eyes sharpening then fading again into his own thoughts.

  


“Agreed, Peggy. We understand,” Steve answered. Bucky felt trapped again. He curtly left the common area into one of the two bedrooms in the joined suite. He sat on the bed, fully clothed, keeping his face in the shadows and as far away from Maria Stark as he could.

  


Peggy didn't comment on this odd behavior, only forcing a smile before she let herself into Tony’s side of the joint suites, leaving Steve alone in the kitchen.  
  
…………………..

  


Maria Stark had hoped a lot for her son, for his future. She cared for him of course but she hoped he would grow out of all the trouble he caused now. She knew she hadn’t been the best mother. She knew the Tony she saw most of the time was attempting to compensate for never living up to his father. She hated the thought that Tony never thought he was enough. Her son was clever and brilliant but he had closed himself off, sparsely ever sharing more than a few words with his father. She had noticed the drinking too. Something he had inherited from Howard. She had no idea how to make it up to Tony. It was odd that he decided to tag along with her to this facility he didn’t care about much. These last few years he had been especially distant. Howard told him to shape up but that did little more than drive Tony further away and farther to the bottom of a liquor bottle. Howard was hard on Tony his entire life, wanting him to be better for his sake. Maria began to wonder over time if that is where she went wrong, not stepping in and being a better parent for Tony. She loved her son a great deal but sometimes she found it difficult to watch him destroy himself.

  


Howard drove away many of their friends, drove away Tony who’d rather get drugged up and intoxicated at unsupervised parties than stand to be in a room with Howard for more than five minutes. Many of Howard’s old war buddies didn’t stick around, it was a godsend that Edwin Jarvis thought to deal with the man for the sake of her and Tony. The woman she and Howard had chosen to be Tony’s godmother even rarely had taken the time to deal with Howard these days. Peggy had called Howard into work earlier that day to work on something confidential, and that was the first time Peggy voluntarily chose to have Howard around in a while, so Maria figured it must have been serious and busied herself at their home in New York City.

  


That is why it was odd that, thirty minutes past three in the afternoon, Maria received an odd surprise call out of the blue from Peggy Carter requesting her presence at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in DC as soon as possible. At first, Maria thought something must have happened to Howard, but Peggy assured her that her husband was alive and well. Peggy did however emphasize the importance of Maria’s presence, not giving away why or to what ends she would be needed. Maria ended up agreeing, quickly gathering some things before getting her family’s private chauffeur to drive her but not before running into her son in the penthouse on the way. Jarvis was with Tony today, to check up on the boy he had said. Edwin Jarvis looked a little baffled as he had apparently also been called by Mrs. Carter who requested his presence at once. Jarvis had been her son’s caretaker for many years now and had very few if any dealings with S.H.I.E.L.D. making Maria’s curiosity grow as to why he needed to be there. Tony showed some odd level of interest on going after he heard that mysterious bit of information and Maria would rather he be with her than ODing at someone’s party while she was gone. He got dressed quickly, not in the most formal attire but it was good for short notice.

  


It was about an hour by private jet, something Maria had opted for on account of Peggy’s urgency on the matter. They landed and quickly made contact with their ride over to S.H.I.E.L.D.

  


Jarvis and Tony trailed just after Maria into the lobby, having already been granted access to the grounds via the front entrance gates. Not to her surprise, the group of three were escorted through security and told to wait for Director Carter to meet them herself.  
  
……………………

  


“It’s been too long, Maria.” Peggy welcomed them, only meeting them on in front of one of the elevators. Oddly enough, Peggy requested Tony stay downstairs much to her nineteen year old son's complaints. It appeared to be for some odd security reasons but Peggy assured that Tony would be looked after and be brought along to Maria and Jarvis later.

  


“Not that it isn't nice to see you, Peggy, but what is it that was needed for me on such short notice. Isn’t Howard already here to help you with something?”

  


“Yes, what is this about, Peggy?” Edwin Jarvis asked.

  


“Let me explain the situation, Maria. Someone has requested to see you and Mr. Jarvis under certain circumstances. We needed you to meet us here.”

  


“And who is this person?” Maria had no idea who this mysterious someone could have been.

  


“You will meet him in a private room upstairs." They boarded an elevator in silence before being let out into an empty hallway. "Please brace yourselves. Give me a moment to let him know.” Peggy gestured for them to stay in the hallway as she slipped into the room.

  


Jarvis looked at Maria, perplexed at the odd situation. Neither had any idea who wanted to meet them all the way in DC, in S.H.I.E.L.D. no less. Peggy emerged from the room once more, gesturing for them to enter. Maria was the first in the room, stopping short of a shadowed figure in front of her.

  


There was a man leaning against the back of the beige couch, his face looking away from them, down towards his shoes. The man had an odd placement of metal in the middle of his chest on top of his black shirt, at the very center of it was a glowing blue light. It was an odd sight. When finally did he look up, Maria was taken aback by his face, bearing a striking resemblance to her son. His face was far more worn and leathery, wrinkles claiming much of it though he still retained something young in his eyes. He had a cropped goatee and subtly spiked dark brown hair much like her son. This man was looking a little more worse for wear than the Tony she had left downstairs.

  


“Sorry about the surprise. I hope you weren't too busy,” the man sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Maria gasped. The afternoon light was depleting and the room’s only electric light that was on was the one at the entrance way. It was dim in the room, but not too dim for her to notice some key details about him.

  


“Tony is that you?” Maria spoke in disbelief, feeling faint. “That doesn't make sense. You’re downstairs, how?” She was left gaping as this older looking Tony, whose brow raised as he himself shook.

  


“What’s this all about, Tony? Peggy, what’s is going on here?” Jarvis tilted his head as he finished. Tony felt as though he was about to completely break down to tears. The namesake for one of his first and most influential AIs, Edwin Jarvis was speaking to him, standing next to his mother, both alive and well.

  


“Bizarre case of time travel,” this man resembling Maria’s son spoke. He was trying to be flippant, his smile nearly as confident as he pretended to be. Much like her own Tony. His voice certainly sounded like her Tony, granted, an older more tired one. “I asked Aunt Peggy to call you. I wanted to see you in this time while I’m stranded here.”

  


“Out of all the possibilities, I certainly wasn’t expecting this. This simply can’t be,” spoke Jarvis, his voice deeper yet heavy with concern, in disbelief. Jarvis placed himself next to Maria. “You look like you have… aged.”

  


“That’s because I have, Jarvis. It’s been some time since the last time I’ve seen you.” That name was another odd one to say after so long especially after that mess with Ultron. Even longer ago had he used the name referring to the man in front of him now. “It’s been a long while for me since 1989,” Tony reiterated.

  


“What do you mean exactly?” Jarvis inquired further, inching ever so much closer to the man resembling the boy he helped raised. “Pardon me if I’m not sure you are who you say you are.” Tony snorted a bit but he was sure it sounded more like a sob, almost of relief at hearing the man being thorough.

  


“We’ve been monitoring him and his company for a few hours now and given a few key insights from them, we are quite certain that this is Tony Stark. I have also had this Tony’s blood compared a sample of your Tony's and it was a match,” Peggy relayed.

  


“I don’t know where to begin. How is this possible? How are you here? Why are you here?” Edwin Jarvis started again, still finding a way to sputter when overwhelmed in his old age. Maria herself was too baffled to comment.

  


“I get it. This is too crazy for words.” Tony attempted to calm him, “In my time, I’ve had a lot of experience with crazy impossible things and as to how and why... I don’t know. I just know I didn’t plan on this.”

  


“This certainly promises to be interesting,” Jarvis spoke. “I can’t believe I am asking this but do you have any idea what could have caused this time travel, Tony?”

  


“I’m looking over the data right now from our arrival,” Tony’s hand gestured to the table covered in a stack of papers. “I am pretty sure I have some idea on what sent me and my group back here but we have no other possible leads or clues as what to do. I’m still trying to figure something out but, for now, I’m stuck here.” Tony clicked his teeth, “I thought, what the hell, it’s a great opportunity to see you two.” Tony looked to his mother with his chocolate brown eyes, pleading for her to believe him.

  


Maria stepped forward, close enough that with one more stride she would have been in his face. She was searching for something in his eyes, analyzing his face along with it.

  


“Hi, Mom,” Tony spoke. She knew… she knew those eyes, those words.

  


“My god. It really is you isn’t it, Tony?”

  


“Yes, in the flesh. I swear it’s me.” Tony cut himself off as he felt his mother’s hand trail through his untamed hair. He was enthralled by it. His mother looked more radiant than he remembered.

  


“My...You’re all grown up,” she breathed, still astonished. Tony looked down, chuckling or sobbing in delight at her voice being so real and present.

  


“Yes. I suppose I am. I’ve certainly been through enough to make me feel old.” His smile was bright and he was damn near hysterical. There was a little less than two years left on the clock for his mother and old man before Hydra would have them killed and construct it to look like an accident. 

  


“I never imagined…” Maria trailed off, at a loss for words, too impressed by the world allowing for her to see her baby boy all grown up. Tony certainly was a dramatic boy, very eccentric. Surprising her like this was something she would have expected from him, but something underneath his words tipped her off to how much he had grown. She didn’t know what her boy had been through. She didn’t know who was in his life. That brought her to another thing Tony had said.

  


“You mentioned a ‘we.’ Who else was brought back with you?” Maria inquired. The skin around Tony’s eyes crinkled and he grinned.

  


“Well, I have someone with me here, yes. Give me a minute to get him.” Tony spoke, eyes lighting up as he omitted Rogers and Barnes from his mind for the moment. Tony thrust himself off the couch and walked confidently to another door, entering the room swiftly. Maria and Jarvis heard whispering from beyond the door before it creaked open.

  


A nervous boy in his teens and a head shorter than Tony, peaked out from behind the wooden door. His expression was sheepish and his browneyes were wide and cautious. He clung to Tony however, his hands clutching at the bottom hem of the man's dark navy shirt. Tony’s expression was beyond fond. He looked ecstatic if not a bit nervous himself. 

  


“Mom, Jarvis,” Tony announced, “I would like you to meet my son. Mom, Peter here is your grandson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah another long chapter, even longer than the last. +5400 words I think. Ah so many things to address this chapter. This also exhausted me but I’m relatively happy with it. I’m back for now! I really wanted to get the tone right for this one after that last big chapter. Now I know that this is not nearly as explosive as last chapter but I wanted to get down with that high with a little chill zone. Enjoy my friends!  
> I may have messed up somewhere here, but I’ll fix it when I reread this for the sixth time. Thank you all for your kind words and the praise. I like seeing everyone freaking out in the comments about Tony, Peter and Howard. It was really fun. How did I do? What do you look forward to?  
> I don’t know how he’d take off the Iron Spider suit as it kinda missiled to him in the movie so I just made something stupid up. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> If anyone wants to, I wrote a piece about Natasha’s origin story called "Memories from the Red Room" and posted it to read. I’m pretty happy with the piece itself and how it flowed but it is much different from this story driven writing. Much more like poetry I guess but I’d love feedback on that as well.


	8. Greeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short, wholesome chapter. (Italics are words spoken in Italian)

Tony stood proud, a hand around Peter’s shoulders, showing off the boy. After all, Peter was in many ways, effectively his kid. He always wondered what his mother would think of Tony and what he had become. About his relationship with his own child.

  


Peter never had grandparents before. Not any that we’re still living much like his parents Richard and Mary Parker they had died. All of his grandparents to his knowledge had never been able to see him while they were alive. Now it seemed as if Tony, his adoptive father, was giving him the chance to meet his mother properly. Tony hadn’t talked about his mother much but from what he had heard from the other room she was someone to be respected Peter knew that Tony’s mother with the utmost respect. Peter awkwardly held out a hand, palms sweating as he looked at the woman his dad had loved so much. 

  


“Mrs. Maria Stark, it’s an honor to meet you.” Maria didn’t react beyond looking him up and down, a perplexed and shocked expression splitting her face. She looked back at Tony then to Peter again. Peter was sure he had done something wrong, and of course, he tried to fix it, fumbling over his words all the while,

  


“I mean, I’m probably not what you expected. I’m not really his kid, I guess. Well, he said it's okay to call him dad, so I do.” The river of words were falling from his mouth and he could do nothing to stop it.

  


“Pete.” Peter retracted his hand, wiping his face to Tony’s, surprised to see the calm yet worried face break on the billionaire’s face. “You’re running your mouth again. Relax. It’s okay.”

  


“Right, okay,” Peter answered, looking down at his feet now, face flushed and embarrassed. A mature feminine voice spoke up, interrupting Peter’s insecure thoughts.

  


“To think that you have a son of your own. That’s very shocking, Tony. And, Peter, don’t worry, I’m not upset that you are here, merely I am shocked.” Peter looked up, not expecting a kind look to be turned from Tony to himself from Maria Stark. “I don’t doubt you are a great boy.” Her smile was reassuring to Peter, who’s panic began to subside thankfully.

  


God, Tony had missed his mother. This was the complete opposite feeling than being around Howard, it was instead, a delightful sight He couldn’t express how blessed he felt in this moment. 

  


_‘“I missed you so much, Mom,”_ Tony’s Italian was rusty at best but his words still flowed from his lips.

  


_‘“I’m right here, Tony. There’s no need to worry,”_ Maria spoke after thinking on those words, trying to shake away the feeling at the pit of her stomach. She reached over to her son, knowing he was in need of an embrace and he hugged her right back. They stayed like that for a few moments, Tony breathing in her perfume, eyes closed to prevent more tears from falling and Maria listening to the heartbeat of her battered, middle aged son. Peter looked perplexed between the two adults, not knowing what to say besides the surface question in his head,

  


“I didn’t know you spoke another language?” Tony pulled away from the hug chuckling, but his hand lingered on his mother’s shoulder.

  


“It’s Italian, kid. My mom has always spoken to me in it.” His smile turned into a smirk as he continued, “besides, doesn’t your aunt speak it? She’s Italian too, right?”

  


“But Aunt May won’t teach me the stuff she knows which is essentially bad words at this point. She hasn’t used it conversationally in years.”

  


“I could teach you sometime if you want.” The stars in Peter’s eyes were practically sparkling in his pupils. Pete tugged on his arm.

  


“Yes, that would be so cool,” he agreed to the offer. “We could speak it around the house, it will be like our secret code or something. It may get confusing with Spanish class, though. You know what, I don’t care. I want to learn it anyway.” Peter, of course, was already teeming with excitement.

  


After realizing what a chatterbox Peter could be when he finally opened up and the way he spoke so fondly of her own son, his father, Maria knew she had already fallen in love with the boy.

  


Jarvis looked upon the interaction with a fond expression finally getting over being blown away by the reveal. “He’s certainly your boy, that’s for sure.”

  


Tony stood straight up, a hand hovering before landing on Peter’s shoulder. He looked a bit nervous at what Jarvis would think he had become. He hoped the man would be proud. Jarvis was always too good of a person to be stuck dealing with Tony’s erratic and childish behavior. He had taken the man for granted and never had really gotten over the man’s death. The man who took care of him and cared for him his whole life when his father couldn't spare Tony a glance. He knew he had disappointed Jarvis in the end. Jarvis had never seen who Tony would become. That Tony would one day break free from his shackles of an unempathetic playboy to, instead, try and help the world for the first time in his life.

  


Just hearing him again made Tony want to sob again. The man was not the AI he had made in an attempt to not get over Edwin Jarvis’ death but the Jarvis who had taught him manners and who he had consistently disappointed with his juvenile and rebellious behavior. Jarvis was here, still old but at least a decade from his death. Jarvis probably blamed himself in the end for how Tony had turned out. Tony hated that thought since she decided to clean himself up ten years ago for him.

  


He was still reckless, sure, but he liked to think he had become more responsible in his older age given what he had been through. He hoped Jarvis would had been happy for him, even if Tony didn’t believe in any afterlife.

  


“He’s far better than I was, Jarvis,” Tony assured. Jarvis nodded thoughtfully. “Peter, this is Jarvis. He helped raise me.” Peter perked up, noticing the respect in Tony’s voice as he introduced the elderly gentleman.

  


Peter held out a hand and Jarvis took it, giving him a good shake, "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

  


“It is nice to meet you as well, Peter,” a delightfully surprised Jarvis responded in kind. Jarvis was impressed by the polite restraint the boy had, clearly he had respect for others which is not something he could definitively say about his young Tony most of the time.

  


Maria’s mind trailed back to another Stark who was in the building but who she had yet to see. “Has your father seen you already? What about Peter?” A noteworthy glint shimmered in Tony’s eyes.

  


“He was present when we arrived,” was Tony’s subpar answer. He’d rather not get into it about Howard right now. Not when he and his mother could be talking about so much more.

  


“I met Howard already.” Peter voice was firm and hid his frustration at being reminded of the man. He did not, however, want to provoke any trouble with his words about the man. Lucky for him, another person entered the room at that moment, this time from the outer hallway door.

  


“Sorry to interrupt. Food is here,” Fury spoke, actually managing to not look too interested in the scene in front of him. “I supervised the agents who dropped off the food. I’ve sent them away now,” the always disgruntled Fury said before the man then left all the same.

  


“Is that food? I’m starving,” Peter hoped, eyes wide. Peggy had almost forgotten that she had already sent some of her subordinates to fetch food for her guests.

  


“Feel free to grab some, Peter,” smiled Peggy. 

  


Tony also moved forward with Peter to take his share of food. He offered the rest some but they declined, having eaten on the flight over. They ended up all sitting on the table, though Peggy was the one left standing, as the table only had four chairs. Peter had offered her the seat but she had declined, leaning on the wall next to the table. The meal wasn’t anything particularly interesting but apparently it was something to get excited over for the super powered teen with the super metabolism. While the two time traveling superheroes were chowing down, Maria cleared her throat.

  


“Tell me about the future,” she offered. “What are things like now for you two?” Tony was in the middle of a particularly large bite of lasagna so Peter answered her instead.

  


“Well… Wait, would you like to see?”

  


“Sure, do you have photos on you?”

  


“Yep,” Peter jumped up from his seat and skipped his way to the wall where he had plugged in his phone earlier. Amazingly, it had actually charged. Peggy leaned forward, interested on what was going to be shown. 

  


Peter bypassed the lock screen and spoke up again. “I’ve got loads of photos on here.”

  


“So, um, everyone has these nowadays,” he shook the hunk of plastic and metal in his hands. “My dad actually made this one but that doesn’t even scratch the surface of what he’s invented so far! Tony didn’t invent the initial smartphone, as we call them, but he improved heavily on the design. Also, it’s gotten really hard to tell the difference between synthesized robot voices and human ones,” Peter ended thinking about Vision, F.R.I.D.A.Y. and Karen.

  


“Of course mine are better. I had to make one that was practically indestructible. I saw the last one he had and the screen was so shattered you couldn't make heads or tails of what was being shown.”

  


“Times certainly have changed then,” Maria mused aloud, taking note of the lack of mention of weapons created by her son and the enthusiasm her supposed grandson had for his inventions. Stark Industries had always been a weapons manufacturing company but perhaps that wasn’t the case anymore. She glanced at Tony as she thought about why that may have been. It couldn’t have been Howard, a man content with creating weapons to defend the free world so it had to be her Anthony.

  


“Interesting,” Jarvis trailed off, getting up himself to reposition himself closer to the boy. He had been sitting across from Peter but wanted to see what was happening.

  


That is when they started sharing the quote, ‘embarrassing photos’ of the other to the other guests present on both the smartphones. Peter started with one where the bloom of the camera lens accented the crisp photo of the two on a sunny day. Peter was in the foreground, sunglasses on and making a face like he was posing for a magazine. Behind him, Tony stood with his own set of shades on and a possible glare in place. He didn’t seem angry however. The expression he held showed a fondness that was present throughout every photo Peter would share of Tony.

  


“I was making my best impression of Dad here. This is us around Central Park. I wanted to go somewhere for the day while the weather was nice, so we settled for there. I made Dad walk around to which he was totally against for the record.” Peter pointed to Tony at the end to which the man nodded, arms crossed.

  


The third one was a remarkably crisp image of them albeit blurry. That’s when Peter pressed play on the recording of himself and the bots. It was a home video of Tony in some sort of workshop being assisted by some one armed robots Maria did recognize.

  


One of the bots was creeping closer to Tony, whirling all the while and then Peter shouted ‘Extinguisher cam!’ to which Tony then turned towards the camera, an exasperated look on his face. Tony then looked towards his own bot.

  


‘I swear if you do not put that down, Dum-E, I am putting you in the time out area,’ the Tony in the video mumbled something about ‘kids and their humor these days’ before speaking up properly again, ‘do you want to help me with work or horse around with the other kids,’ he gestured to the bot with the extinguisher who sadly placed the fire extinguisher down.

  


‘Look, you made Dum-E sad,’ Peter spoke from behind the camera, sounding exaggeratedly remorseful. ‘Well if he was sitting nice and pretty like U and Butterfingers instead of consorting with you to bother me, he wouldn’t have gotten yelled at.’

  


‘He was just having a little fun,’ a hand came into view and patted the offending bot on their singular metal arm.

  


‘That fun’s gonna land him in being recycled to the MIT Engineering Department if he doesn’t get his act together.

  


Peter made a pufting noise, “you always threaten to do that. You’re never going to get rid of him.’

  


‘Maybe I’ll send you to MIT instead.’

  


‘You already plan on it.’

  


‘Exactly,’ the video cut off the video tapped Tony in the middle of circling back around in his stool.

  


“I take it your father still loves to have his little robots around. I see he’s made another one,” Maria inquired.

  


“Of course, Dum-E is great and U is adorable. There’s also Butterfingers. They drop a lot of things, hence the name. They don't mean it though, so I just don't give him anything breakable.”

  


“I can show her this one right,” Peter checked with his dad.

  


“God,” Tony raised his brows, “Why did you even take pictures of that? Sure, show it if you want to.” And with that, next came a series of photos the boy started to flip through.

  


A woman with strawberry blonde hair was stationed next to smug Tony in a sleek kitchen before he became progressively more distressed then burst out with what must have been laughter as the woman turned to him, she looked more and more irked.

  


“This is when Tony couldn’t stop laughing at something I told Pepper, that or he was choking because she looks pretty disapproving here, huh? He has a habit of making her upset by doing dumb things.” Peter’s nose scrunched as he cocked his head to the side trying to figure out which, momentarily forgetting how strange this situation was.

  


“Pepper is Tony's fiancé,” Peter whispered not so subtly to Maria next to him. Maria’s eyes widen a bit and she takes in the photo again in a new light. Pepper looks like a well kept person but more importantly the way that Tony and Peter talk about her told Maria that they love her and she makes them happy.

  


“She seems lovely,” Maria informed her son, his red cheeks hinting a bit of his shock. Tony’s flustered look turned soft as he answers his mother,

  


“She really is.”

  


He flipped through a few panels to one taken from further away than the others, showing off the full dress of three people: Tony, Peter, and a woman in her mid to late forties donning a large brimmed summer hat and smart black pants with simple flower print blouse. She had long brown hair and was hugging Peter, squishing her face on top of his. Tony looked a bit more reserved but no less happy, a grin on his face along with some shades. A cap on his head used as an attempt to hide his identity perhaps and casual AC/DC tee shirt and blazer to boot. Peter was between them smiling as bright as the summer sun above them and the various carnival booths in the background. In his hand was an oversized neon green gorilla plushie that strikingly made its presence known in the picture.

  


“Oh, here’s my Aunt May, Dad and I at Coney Island. Tony kept complaining about the heat but I think he’s just like that because that was a great day. Plus, Aunt May was able to get some time off of work to go with us, it was awesome.” The corner of Peter’s lips curled up at the memory.

  


“In my defense, New York City is not known for its mild summers, especially when compared to Southern California, " Tony added. "But that was a great day, that prize monkey is hideous though.”

  


“Hideous? It's in your workshop, on the shelf above all the chaos.”

  


“Just because its gross looking doesn’t mean it’s worth destroying. Come on, Pete. Who do you take me for?” Peter rolled his eyes.

  


Maria smiled, looking back between the boy, her son and finally Jarvis who looked very content, happy even at the evidence of a well lived life in front of him. Tony’s son scrolled through his many photos before he clicked on one filled with a vibrant yellow.

  


“Here’s my friends and me on our academic decathlon team,” Peter told. Sure enough, the picture was of group of students Peter’s age, all different in appearance except for their shared bright yellow blazers. It appeared as if they were in a school bus by the upholstery around them and the cars beyond the windows. Peter stopped for a bit looking between Maria Stark and his phone looking a bit anxious. “Sorry if this is kinda lame. You wanted to see future stuff not this. I’m sure I have pictures more futury.” Maria evaluated the boy before speaking,

  


“Peter, this is very nice to see. As long as you want to show me, I’ll take a look.” The boy glowed at that and Tony looked gratefully at his mother. “I’m far more interested in how you both are than some advancements in technology.”

  


The boy had seemed happy when he showed the photos and Maria didn’t want to stop him. This glimpse into the future was interesting but what was more interesting was the content of the photos. How she was seeing a generation of her family in their daily life long before he would be born. That, and in each photo they seemed so happy.

  


Tony then brought out his own phone, remarkably still halfway charged, and began to scroll through his own photo archive, hoping to make the kid feel less awkward as being the only one to share. That and he didn't want Peter showing any internet inside jokes or whatever to Jarvis or his mother. He couldn’t deal with their confusion about that. Peter now seemed much more assured by Maria’s words and continued to scroll through the photo gallery.

  


There were pictures of Peter and his friends outside on the streets of Queens, a rather fat and fluffy bodega cat named Murph, some more with Tony in various places with Peter, and others of the woman with dark brown hair, Peter’s Aunt May.

  


“Aunt May can’t do anything without her kid, right?” Tony looked pointedly at Peter.

  


“Shut it, Dad. She does better than you anyway,” was his joking response as he was gaining more confidence around those in the room with Tony present.

  


“Son, I’ll have you know I’m insulted by your behavior.” Tony wasn’t angry by any means, he was just pulling his leg, overwhelmed with the joy of the moment. Peter just rolled his eyes in a playful response and continued.

  


Another few photos were flipped through had a very sour looking Tony next to a laughing man with dark coffee colored skin and slender kind face. “Wait, is that James Rhodes?” Asked Maria, studying the familiar but changed face.

  


“Of course,” Tony says plainly but she knows he means more than he is saying.

  


“Wow I can see he aged too of course. Gracefully of course,” Jarvis added.

  


“I’m glad he’s still around,” Maria’s eyes softened at Tony, knowing his childhood had made it difficult for him to have true friendships. Another one of her regrets. It did help to know he did have a long lasting one.

  


“Yah, really someone I can rely on. He puts up with us, well, mostly puts up with me. He thinks Peter and Pepper are lovely.” The corner of his eyes crinkle again in thought. “Sticking around has aged him but I think that would have happened no matter what.” They kept on sharing stories and photos, each anecdote keying into the importance of both being in each other's lives. It was nice to see Peter was too ecstatic now to remember how nervous he was, which was refreshing.

  


In her bafflement and belated reaction to the two time travelers something had slipped her mind. “What about Tony?” Maria asked suddenly in distress, looking to Peggy and Jarvis. Peter, however did not pick up on her tone.

  


“Yah, what about Tony?” the teenager sneered.

  


“Watch it, kid.” Tony pointed his empty, tomato sauce covered fork at his kid. Peter just shrugged and continued scarfing down the food.

  


“No, my Tony. Well the one from 1989, Anthony, why don’t we call him that to be clear.” She continued before there were any responses. “He’s downstairs I’m sure he’s getting fed up by now.” Tony froze completely.

  


“Keep him downstairs. He can’t meet any of us up here.”

  


“Agent Fury is already taking care of him.” Of course he already had it under wraps. Tony didn’t need to panic. Just a younger version of him was in the building and walking around. He didn’t remember doing that when he was younger but then again he didn’t remember everything. He didn’t remember meeting fury before he broke into his house after the Iron Man reveal but Fury probably had some other agents escorting the younger him. Too close for comfort. Breaking time was not on his todo list. Tony had to push past the panic. 

  


He was brought back to reality by the tug at his shirt. He turned to Peter who looked as though he wanted to ask something, his face serious. Then Peter’s stomach rumbled. That actually helped him calm because Tony ended up snorting a bit.

  


“What, are you still hungry, kiddo? That’s actually not a shock really.”

  


“There were supposed to be desserts as well on the cart.” Peggy made to move but Jarvis had already stood up and was ahead of her to the entrance. 

  


“I’ll get them, Peggy,” Jarvis spoke, his own butler nature hard to suppress.

  


“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Jarvis.” But Jarvis had already opened the door, and his eyes fell on the metal cart and then on the blond man standing next to it, his own plate of lasagna in hand and was in the process of grabbing another. He was sporting a dark and worn down but still clearly read white and blue outfit with navy stitching making the outline of a star at the center of his chest. It took the butler a moment before the man’s identity clicked.

  


“Jarvis.” Peggy spoke, speed walking to the door.

  


Jarvis just gapped. “Is that... Is that Captain Steve Rogers?” Tony sighed, sounding older than Maria ever thought she’d get to see him be. 

  


“Shit. Steve,” Tony swore under his breath before reluctantly addressing the questioning brows of Jarvis and Maria. “I forgot to tell you guys that there were two others who did time travel with us. The Captain here, is one of them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look a little Tony speaking Italian hell yah. Sorry about this being a shorter chapter and it’s all fluff. It’s because of work this week and then I just got on plane and I’m in New York now visiting family but I still wanted to give you guys something to assure you I haven’t abandoned this work. I guess you guys will have to see what awaits later, sorry. I may change some things about this chapter later.  
> Also my cat and dog both died this week so I don’t feel that great. My cat died three days ago and my dog left yesterday but I was in NYC so I couldn’t go see them at home. I feel really slow and stuff.


	9. Mistakes Overheard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little talk between Steve and Tony is had, the only problem is Peter can hear it.

Jarvis was staring, suite door still ajar at a man who appears to not just be a footnote in history or a painful memory of a good friend’s life as he is standing right there in front of him.

  


“Is that really him?” Jarvis looked concerned, his gaze turning back to Peggy now in the doorway as well. Peggy took a deep breath, Jarvis and her sharing a thought between their gazes before she spoke,

  


“Yes, it is.”

  
“Sorry, Peggy. I knew you said to stay inside.” Steve was caught in the hallway and had yet to really move, staring at the man in front of him.

  


“It’s okay, Steve. It couldn't be helped.” Peggy just sighs a bit at the two men before her.

  


“Who is this?” Steve nods to the well dressed older Englishman. Peggy looks between them before the thought occurs to her that Steve never had the privilege to meet one of her greatest friends.

  


“This is Edwin Jarvis. A long time friend of mine and the Starks.” Steve nods. He supposed it would make sense for the two to be friends.

  


“I suppose it’s too late for me to hide in my room again,” Steve says, attempting to keep the mood light.

  


“Damn right, Cap,” Tony says but there's something stail about it.

  


“And how you you know Captain Rogers, Tony?” Jarvis turns to Tony, a little light headed from all of the crazy and more than a bit concerned for Peggy.

  


“We’ve worked together in the past. We’ll my past, your future. What can I say, life’s unpredictable,” Tony divulged.

  


“How serendipitous this,” spoke Jarvis mostly to himself, thinking about the occupants in the room.

  


“Jarvis, Tony, what’s this about?” Maria spoke behind Tony. It appeared they had all migrated to the doorway or hall now. Once Maria’s eyes land on Steve, it’s only a matter of moments before she figures the same thing as Jarvis.

  


“Oh my,” her hand follows to cover her mouth in shock.

  


“It’s okay, mom.” Steve trained his eyes on the woman Tony had spoken to before he latched his gaze onto Tony. A worried thought began spinning in his head that had been turning ever since Peggy had told Bucky and him about the new guests. “This is Steve Rogers, a colleague of mine.”

  


Steve’s eyes grow sad in the most minute of ways before he nods to the other occupants he doesn't know personally, he still is polite for all the mistakes he’s made. Maria offers the long lost soldier a nod and a hello back.

  


“How’s your buddy, Steve,” there was a bite of bitterness to Tony’s words that Jarvis nor Maria had expected. Steve sighed.

  


“He’s fine, Tony.” Steve could see Peter poking his head around the corner, his face far more childlike with his eyes wide open than Steve was comfortable with. A kid like him should be protected not be doing the protecting. Tony looked between Steve, Peter and the door behind the American icon.

  


“Can I talk to you privately,” he gestured to Steve’s direction.

  


“Sure,” was all Steve said, turning around to his own temporary living quarters, not waiting for Tony to follow. He knew they needed to talk.

  


“Just, hold on here a moment, okay,” Tony gave the group a smile but it was one more troubling than any of them had seen from him that day. It was one of those fake ones he used to tell others he was alright when really he wasn’t.

  


………….

  


Tony’s knuckles rested on the granite countertop and made no attempt to get any closer to the Captain than was strictly necessary in this context. He didn’t see Barnes but after a quick scan he figured he was held up in the room with the closed door. That would work for now seeing as it was really Steve he needed to talk to. Only, Tony wasn’t the first one to speak. 

  


After Steve had put his food down on the counter, he spoke up about his most pressing concern, “Tony, what are they doing here?” He sounded sympathetic but also disappointed, though he had no right to be.

  


“I don't need your judgement, Rodgers. I certainly don’t need your pity.”

  


“Tony, you know you cannot tell them what happens.”

  


“I’m not talking to you about this right now. I know what I’m doing.” He didn’t. Steve didn’t need to bother him. He had lost the right to act like he cared for Tony when he chose to leave. Steve sighed,

  


“I’m just saying it’s a bad idea. We don’t know what powers are at play here, like you said.” Tony wanted to warn them. He really did. They could live out their lives to a good age. Perhaps they’d still be around in 2018.

  


“Don’t act like you have any right to tell me that.” Steve shook his head at Tony’s words.

  


“You can’t change the future like this. You won't end up the same. What about Pepper? You won't end up the same.” Tony looked away, brows strung in stubborn thought. “You’ll never meet Peter.” Dammit. Steve was right. Why did he have to have such a strong and believable voice, like he wanted to care about Tony again. Maybe he did but Tony was still far too hurt to have that happen again anytime soon. Not after how badly he had been burned this last time. 

  


“What do you care?”

  


Tony had thought, not too long ago, that he had found a family in the most unlikely places. The thought trudged old grudges back up. It was absolutely draining.

  


“I care about you, Tony. I care about the team. You think I wanted this to happen?” Why did they always have to be like this? Steve had broken his trust badly. After he had let the man live in his home. He wanted to take Steve by the scruff of his stupid beard and scream at him.

  


“And which part of the team decided to go AWOL?” Steve floundered for a second too long. Invested his all into the Avengers. He gave everything to it. The team had gone to him for all their tech, for a place to live. They let Tony pay for the damages the Avengers caused and Tony did it all without a second thought. They were worth it to him. Money was no factor in decisions when he was taking care of his team, his family. He was just so happy to have them in his life. He did it all. It was exhausting but it felt good to have people to care for and to care for him.

  


But, in the end, it seemed like it didn’t take too much for them to chose Steve over him. Nat, Clint, Wanda, and Sam. He had known some of them for years and still they left. Could he really blame them? Tony wasn’t really much of a leader type nor a great friend. They probably all thought he was an ass. Nights he was left restless and alone without even Pepper to comfort him and he wondered about how he drove everyone away when really all he wanted was to keep them together and happy.

  


Tony looked up again, and still Steve was making that pity filled face again. Maybe Steve was attempting to not stoop to his level. Go figure.

  


There was a lingering pain in his left wrist that sprang up again. Perhaps it was the stress. He grabbed his wrist. Perhaps it was a nervous tick at this point. Unreliable. Unstable. They didn’t need that in a hero. That's what they had called him. Tony was used to having all eyes on him. He was also use to getting the short end of the stick in this stuff. His life was full of roads lined with disaster.

  


“Pardon me,” Tony scoffed. “Don’t pester me about that right now.”

  


“What sort of end game were you planning by calling them?”

  


“One where we are all get back to our time, separated unless the end of the world literally calls us to converge in one spot only to leave again. I just wanted to see them again, Steve. Why can’t I just have that before we have to stop the end of the known universe.” Steve actually looked torn up about it but Tony knew he had to focus on the end game here. Tony goal was always to protect the world from an oncoming threat since the battle of New York, to prepare it for the oncoming army he had seen assembling in space. Now he was thrown backwards in time, away from the front lines and only a few calls away from seeing those he had lost once more. Steve above most others should be able to understand that iching need.

  


Tony always thought that Steve and he knew each other rather well but now he could only think about how Steve must have tolerated him more than anything else. Steve Rogers, the man that his father had loved and cared more than his own son. Something Tony had thought he had gotten over but now he could only think of how the man he had grown to think of as a good friend, instead of think of in bitter jealousy, had abandoned him. Tony remembered walking around the compound after their little Civil War discourse; the memories of an oddly formed family ghosted the halls the halls there. A family he would have done anything for. He could only thank the cosmos that he wasn't left completely alone in the end. It didn’t make it hurt any less, though.

  


“You never would have followed the Accords, Tony. We both know that.”

  


“God. You're such a hypocrite,” he huffed under his breath, dragging his hand over his face. “What else could I do? I knew we needed to work with the governments of the world no matter how much I hate Ross.”

  


“We could have come up with something else.”

  


“Maybe we could have but we didn’t think of that of the time.”

  


“You know that I had a limited time frame to get to Bucky. You were the one who put together a group to track us down.”

  


“I was trying to minimize the damage. I know I just made it worse but you didn’t help at all in that front.”

  


“Tony, you weren’t in the right frame of mind.”

  


“That's because you chose him over me, that murderer, and everyone left after that.” Something in Tony broke, a well of pent up rage and sadness and it was gaining traction with every thought. “You slammed the shield my father made you into my chest and broke by suit. You left me in that Hydra facility in the middle of nowhere in Siberia on my own. To die.” Scathing hot words turned cold. Clear betrayal lit his eyes so strong Steve had to look away. Steve knew he had monumentally fucked up. Good. Both of them were stubborn to a dangerous fault.

  


“Did you even care if I made it back? Because I don’t think you ever cared about me.” Tony’s voice was so small that Steve almost didn’t hear it. The words made him want to take back the mistake more than anything now. He had no way to comfort Tony, his actions spoke louder than any words he could say to the man now.

  


“I didn’t mean for it to end that way, Tony. I don’t know how I can ever make it up to you. I just… god, I fucked up so bad.” It was a surprisingly cynical response from Captain Motivation himself. Dejected, Steve continued. “How did we get to this point, Tony? We use to be a team. A damn good one, too.”

  


Tony couldn’t help but think of when they were a team. About how much they had all meant to him. 

  


How did this happen? Both of them had made so many terrible decisions for good reasons and for bad. They shared fault for what happened. Tony couldn’t even pick himself up after it. After the Avengers had split up, Tony had to find a new reason to live. Peter had been that reason for him. Tony looked down at his hand and chuckled, bitter and empty,

  


“We just can’t keep it together, can we? We’re always such a mess.” Steve wasn’t sure if those hollow words were directed at him or not. Tony seemed so deep in thought. He just didn’t want any more of this bad blood between them.

  


“Please, just… don’t take it out on Bucky. He remembers it all. He hates what they made him do. Don’t blame him for it. I may not deserve a second chance in your eyes but please just let him have this.” Tony didn’t want to respond to that. He knew fully well Barnes wasn't the one in control when he killed his parents, when he killed countless others. He was just so angry. Angry about his parents’ death, angry Steve was willing to protect the killer over Tony, angry that Steve didn’t think to tell him. They were suppose to be friends dammit. Maybe he had thought they were on his end but the team didn’t think of him that way. They didn’t care.

  


“Tony, please,” but Tony was too busy contorting his face to hide his emotions. Barnes couldn’t be all bad if Steve was willing to fight so hard for him and it seemed as though he’d have to deal with the off brand Super Soldier one way or another, might as well make it as painless as possible.

  


“As long as Barnes keeps himself together then I have no problem with him,” Tony breathed out finally and he could visibly see the relief unfold on Steve’s face. A sadness still ached in the old soldier’s heart, however. Tony felt abandoned and Steve had to face that fact. In the end, there was no escaping that truth. Steve knew just by knowing how Tony was and listening to some of the things he said that he hadn’t liked his father all that much but he hadn’t really known how bad it was.

  


A growing anxiety also festered in Tony, reminding him of consequences and what really mattered to him.

  


“You’re right.” He hated to admit it but Tony still nodded along to his own words, trying his best convince himself. “We can’t warn them of anything yet. We have to make sure it all happens the way it did or else Barnes will never be retrieved and Pete may never be born or ever meet me.”

  


Steve had bit back from asking what Tony was thinking earlier bringing a kid into this mess. He knows now that will only bring Tony closer to hating him more than he already does and he’ll say something along the lines of ‘you always think you are so morally superior to me don’t you.’ Steve settles on another way to phrase his thoughts to take the edge off of their conversation, “I have another concern.”

  


Tony’s knuckles go white, probably guessing at what it could be. “And what’s that about, Rodgers?” Steve soldiers on, knowing he needs to know about why Tony made this decision when he knew full well how the superhero business went.

  


“I feel like you were not telling us the whole story about the kid, Tony.”

  


‘Sure as hell I didn’t,’ is what Tony wished he had said. “I guessed that’s what you must have figured.”

  


“I’m not saying the kid isn’t a competent fighter, I just need to know why he’s on the team. I don’t support child soldiers, Tony. He’s just a kid. You’re his dad, you must know that. Know how dangerous this business it.

  


“That’s right he is just a kid. One that needed someone looking out for him. I didn’t introduce him to this lifestyle he was doing this long before I came into the picture.” That Steve did not know.

  


“You mean, you didn’t… I don’t know.”

  


“God, Steve. Do I need to spell it out for you?” Tony interrupts. “Of course I wouldn’t give a highly weaponized suit to a random teenager for kicks. I was trying to help an enhanced one. I don’t know if my guidance is any good but still, I needed to help after I dragged him into this. He might not have been brought into this line of work the best way he could have but he’s here now and he is good. He’s better than all of us were, self sacrificing and stubborn as he is. The kid can hold his own in a fight and he's amazingly smart, even if he is still learning. That kid is our future, he’s the future of the Avengers and I think with my help and backing, he can have bright future ahead. I’m just lucky to be there for him.” There’s a certain amount of pride reverberated through the words and Steve scanned Tony’s face over and over again, looking for a confirm of this being true, of Tony’s belief in Peter. He must have found it.

  


“Okay, I’ll take your word for it. He’s your kid, after all. He must be great,” is all Steve says, knowing it isn’t his place anymore to criticize Tony about something and someone so close to him. The kid was in good hands, he doesn’t need to step in.

  


“I’m going to go rejoin my family if you don’t mind.” Steve nodded, still locked in his own thoughts.

  


……………….

  


Bucky had curled in on himself and tried to forget the world.

  


Bucky could hear Tony and Steve fighting just one room over now. Fighting about Siberia, about Steve trying to protect him. It was Bucky’s fault the Avengers were left in pieces. Steve would sacrifice everything for him but at what cost. 

  


Stark had every right to hate him. He wouldn’t be surprised if he still wanted him dead, he wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t want Bucky to leave the room. But Bucky was surprised. Tony Stark said that he would be okay with Barnes roaming around, even if it was through grinding teeth.

  


That wouldn’t stop Bucky from being conscious of the very thin line he walked on with the man, he wasn’t going to involve himself with the Stark family if it was at all possible. He didn’t need Tony to want to kill him again.

  


……………….

  


The small group left in the hallway slowly filed back into the room they previously inhabited. Peggy had more than one item of concern running through her mind. One of these was the fact that it was clear that there was a wedge between Tony and Steve, something stunted and broken between them every time they spoke, and something about that was driving Peggy crazy. She was almost worried to let the two go off to have a private conversation, not knowing what condition they would be in afterwards. 

  


Another concern of hers was the way her godson’s child was looking pointedly at the double doors between the suites. Peter was on his feet at the moment, just behind those who stood in the entryway. Peggy studied the boy, noticing he reacted as though he could hear the hushed conversation when all she could hear was a muffled tone from both men through two layers of insulated, nearly soundproof walls.

  


“What is it, Peter?” Peggy spoke, edging closer to the boy.

  


“It’s nothing,” the teenage boy stuntedly said, not turning to her, eyes fixed on the door to the hall. Peggy could tell a clear lie when she heard one.

  


“Are you sure, Peter,” spoke Maria Stark, a look of concern washing over her face.

  


"Yes, I'm sure, Mrs. Stark."

  


“Peter, it’s okay. You don’t need to be so formal with me. You can call me grandma if you want to. Or Bonna. I suppose it will make me seem old but who cares about that.” Peter made an attempt to smile, his entire attention was not on her but the smile did come across as genuine.

  


“Sure, Nonna,” Peter tried out, successfully bringing a smile to Mrs. Stark’s face. 

  


Peter stood idle as he listened in on the two heroes, interested in what the discussion could be about. Usually Peter would respect their privacy but Tony had been worrying him the way he avoided talking about the Captain and only spoke in small sentences to him when needed. This could be a good chance to find out why that was.

  


He could hear the two. And it didn't sound good.

  


Tony and Steve had already begun to snap back and forth with each other with implications that made Peter’s head spin and throat close up.

  


Peter kept his ears peeled as he heard the heated discussion unfold, his brow furrowing more and more with each sentence. He wasn’t sure what to do with everything he was hearing but once he had heard Steve’s lack of denial at leaving Tony to die in the Siberian Tundra, about leaving him without his friends and family, Peter’s mind was dead set on berating the man.

  


Peter had heard enough of what Captain America had said to his dad at this point. Tony was in no emotional state to deal with the man bringing up such painful things he had done to Peter’s dad. Peter couldn’t believe what he had heard. He had seen the bruises after the split of the Avengers, the hollow smiles Tony attempted to hold as his eyes looked lost when he thought the kid wasn’t looking. All the things Tony had done that had been odd but now Peter understood why, and he was not happy about it.

  


He hesitated a few moments, looking between those left in the room, each looking at him with varying level of concern. He wasn’t listening to Tony or the Captain anymore. He knew he shouldn’t reveal that he had heard what they two had been saying behind those closed doors but he was really upset with the Captain. He didn’t want to wait anymore, he pushed himself forward and passed the concerned looks.

  


“Peter, where are you going?” Aunt Peggy’s look was much more calculated and curious, like she was figuring something out about him.

  


Peter just marched to the door, not wanting to let out his anger on someone who meant well. His hand reached over to grasp the rounded handle of the door, but it opened before Peter had made contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I’m back from NYC now after doing research to write characters living in New York more realistically and accurately. I’m sorry this update took so long, I was just dealing with a lot of things. I’m having a tough time with these chapters. I had to make a storyboard because there’s just so much to keep in mind so now at least I have a vague notion of where i am going from here. I’m not sure if Peter should call Maria Grandma or Nonna, maybe he’ll alternate?  
> Thank you all for your sweet notes about my pets. That was very kind of you all and very understanding.  
> I was super stuck on what to do with this chapter so I’m sorry it took so long and who knows how coherent it is going to be. It’s always nice to hear what you guys think and any inquiry or suggestions you have. Also I intend on putting two or three more avengers through the time travel soon? Who could they be?? Hmmmm


	10. Open Wounds and Open Gates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is upset again, Peggy’s getting suspicious, and young Tony’s getting antsy. Another crew enter the scene along with some other unwanted guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony = 2018 Tony Stark  
> Anthony = 1989 Tony Stark (Howard calls him Tony because he doesn’t know the code yet)  
> Side note: How the heck have I made it to 10 chapters already??? Again, thank you all for your support. It means a great deal, really

Peter clenched his fists in frustration. He was beyond irritated at this point. Now armed with this new knowledge he planned on serving up some words to the captain. It may not have been the smartest plan but he didn’t care. Captain America had intentionally hurt his dad and he wasn’t going to let that pass without making it known to the fugitive how he felt about it. 

  


Emerging from the room, Tony did not expect to see the rather furious look on his kid’s face only a few inches in front of him. It was not turned towards him however, it was directed to someone behind him. Steve. Oh, right. Pete had advanced hearing and he must have heard the entire exchange. So much for trying to hide it in another room.

  


“You,” Peter bit out. Steve looked confused at Peter, unsure of where all the negative energy was coming from. “You left him to die. It was you.”

  


Peter’s mild demeanor was gone as he marched past an awestruck Tony Stark.

  


It was odd to see Peter so angry. He was usually so docile and had a shy and polite way about dealing with adults he didn’t know that much. Peter’s tunnel vision must have been pretty bad in that moment if he was still stalking up to Steve, pushing forward against Tony's hand. 

  


“He decided to leave you alone. He abandoned you. He doesn’t deserve anything!”

  


“Pete, please,” he tried to sound authoritative but his sadness leaked through, his voice far more quiet then he had intended. He’d not seen Peter turn cold like this before seeing him try to handle Howard. This must be a record for the boy to genuinely yell at two adults in a single twenty-four hour period.

  


“That was you. You left my dad for dead and you call yourself a hero.” Peter’s words were more vicious than any he had heard before, never did the thought occur to Tony that the boy had the ability to make a grown super soldier tear up.

  


“I can’t believe I ever looked up to you.” Peter was no longer in awe of the man called Captain America. The previous impression he had of the man before him had been shattered after what he had heard.

  


Steve couldn’t find any right words to respond with. It’s not intimation he felt from the boy, but a rightful anger. Steve had some time to rethink over his actions but he hadn’t known his betrayal had affected Tony so deeply. Enough to the point where his own child was willing to shout it in Steve’s face. Regret consumed Steve’s thoughts, he had no response to give to the boy. He had done wrong by Tony. Just one significant failure after another and now this kid who he had only spared passing judgement on for a moment was ripping into him and rightly so. 

  


A weak 'I'm sorry' was all Steve could manage.

  


“Pete, that’s enough,” Tony tried but his voice was tired and the bags under his eyes seemed to weigh more now. Peter turned to Tony, desperate to defend his father, to shake some rightful anger into him,

  


“He was your teammate and he did that to you. He doesn’t deserve to work with you,” Peter’s voice was shrill, needing to vindicate his thoughts and his father.

  


“I know but we have to work together now so we have to put that aside. You don’t have to like him or get along to do that. That’s a part of the job.”

  


“How can you not hate him?” This time his voice was nothing more. Peter wiped his eyes, now red and angry. “He hurt you.” His son’s voice was soft now, like that of a child’s.

  


Tony sighed and looked to the Captain who looked completely ashamed of himself, nothing like the righteous and stubborn man he had met six years ago. Slowly, he turned his gaze back to the boy. Tony placed one hand on each of Peter’s shoulder looking into his eyes, trying to assure him the best he could. With the gesture he urged the boy to make eye contact with him. 

  


“Peter, please calm down,” he asked and his voice was so heavy with the weight of years of memories of friendship and the pain of loss that it urged Peter responded with his own pain.

  


“But he left you to die, how can you just walk that off? He doesn't deserve to be a part of the team, let alone the captain of one.” When Tony looked into Peter’s fierce brown eyes, none of that ill will or frustration was turned towards him from where it had been on Rogers. There was only a sad sort of understanding and protective look that followed Tony’s eyes.

  


“Everyone makes mistakes kid, especially us ‘superheroes’.” Tony sounded as though the wind had been ripped from his sails, no longer able to focused on Rogers. Building blocks of trust so carefully created and assembled were gone with the man. Being proactive wasn’t usually his thing but this time around he’d try. Neither he nor Steve were exempt from their failures but they needed to get past this for the world’s sake.

  


The memory of the conversation still vexed Tony but he didn’t want Peter sock Steve in the face, especially not in front of his mother, Jarvis or Peggy, even for his sake. They were all pretty emotional today. They needed a break, perhaps even a vacation.

  


“It’s okay, kiddo, we talked it over already.” He was trying to make it better. Trying was the key word there. 

  


“What do you mean?”

  


“Listen, Pete, everything’s going to be okay. I’m here right now. I’m not in any danger. Steve and his buddy aren’t going to hurt me so please don’t get angry at him.” Tony stressed his words with care and a gentle kindness. When had this kid turned him so soft? All of their emotions were running high, what, were they pumping extra oxygen into this place? If so, it certainly was doing wonders for his well being, Tony thought to himself, sarcasm a common coping mechanism for him and a hard one to break. 

  


Upon realizing the rest of the occupants had heard, Peter’s cheeks grew pink in embarrassment, muttering something about how he’d never live this down.

  


The other members of the group were quite shocked by the exchange, each standing where they had been for the entire outburst. 

  


“What is this all about, Tony?” Maria asked, concern riddling her face. After all, she had only just gotten to start to know her grandson and she hadn’t expected this. She looked between her two boys, waiting for any of the time travelers to expound the truth. Tony sighed,

  


“Just give us a moment.” Tony guided an embarrassed Peter through the threshold onto their side of the suites, the kid’s socks making an absent shuffling sound. 

  


Peggy then chose to corner Steve on the other side of the room. What could he have done to elicit that reaction out of Peter, who somehow was able to hear Tony and Steve’s private conversation, but she would get to that later.

  


“What was that about, Steve?” Peggy wanted to get to the bottom of this now, so her voice made it clear she didn’t want any nonsense from him. “What did he mean about leaving Tony for dead?”

  


“Like I said, the future is complicated. I— I made a lot of mistakes. I guess I needed to face them now.” Before Peggy could confront the changed man further, her work phone, which was more of an overpowered walkie talkie, went off with a rather unpleasant scratching tone. Peggy quickly put the device to her ear after she chose to receive the call.

  


“Director Carter, this is Agent Fury. Do you copy?” came the familiar voice of her second-in-command, odd and crackled through the receiver.

  


“This is Director Carter. What is this about?” Peggy regained her professional tone, flattening down her blazer as she did so.

  


“There's a situation downstairs in the western entrance,” were Agent Fury’s words.

  


Steve watched her pensive look as she listened, he could hear as well and the information made his skin crawl. This could be their chance. He made his way to the room Bucky was held up in and knocked on the door. 

  


“What is it, Steve, Peggy?” Tony asked, but instead of hearing a response from the two adults, Tony heard the boy next to him answer, his own brow taught in concentration,

  


“They got word of another portal.” Peggy looked at Peter at an odd angle at his words, not having expect to hear Fury’s call two yards away. 

  


“What? Where?” came Tony’s voice. 

  


“Downstairs, in the western lobby. Both Howard and the younger Tony are there,” Peggy answered.

  


…………...

  


A disgruntled nineteen year old Anthony Stark was left glaring at S.H.I.E.L.D. security in the upper lobby of the massive compound of modern cement architecture. He had been sitting in the holding room with nothing to do for almost forty five minutes now and he hated it.

  


What was this, he thought to himself. Tony didn’t need to have glorified babysitters. He wasn’t all that sure why he wasn’t allowed to join his mother and Jarvis to follow his godmother but Anthony Stark was getting pretty antsy even pissy. Anthony knew he could be doing Something more than sitting here twiddling his thumbs. He almost regretted asking to follow his mother on this excursion here out of sheer boredom alone. 

  


There was something Peggy had needed to show them on a need to know basis which only made Anthony tap his fingers faster on the large glass conference table, more curious than angry he had been left out. He heard the latch on the door sound, finally, so he turned his chair expectantly only to be met with a gaze he knew all too well. Anthony knew that look of stock disapproval anywhere. His father had found him. 

  


His father was there and he had spotted Anthony, of course, all by his lonesome in the nearly empty room. Just when he thought this little field trip distraction couldn’t get any better. He didn't want to deal with Howard right now or ever. Their constantly escalating fights had resulted in Tony not caring for the man much anymore. He hated being troubled by him and having that judgmental gaze turned his way. 

  


“Tony, what on earth are you doing here?” his father stated like he was accusing Anthony of something, rather done with his son already. His father seemed even more disgruntled than normal, almost irate even. Didn’t is father have better things to do than personally check up on Tony, like yell at some incompetent workers or faun and obsess over a man from his youth long dead now? Tony sat up, trudging up his commonplace overly eccentric persona in some attempt to jab at his old man. 

  


“Mom was going to visit, so thought I would tag along.” That actually got something other than a glare from the older man. 

  


“Your mother is here? Now?” His father actually managed to look surprised that was growing more and more concerned, which Anthony thought of as odd as he believed his father would had known she was going to be here.

  


“Yes, isn't that what I just said?”

  


“Carter. She must have orchestrated this,” Howard speculated under his breath, “we have enough bull to deal with today as is.” Anthony just scoffed, remembering why he didn’t really care about much about his father at this point.

  


Another man appeared just outside the doorway, dark skin a pissy look and a high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. issued outfit on. 

  


“Fury, did you know about this?” 

  


“I’ve been informed, yes,”

  


“Excuse me, but I was just wondering if I’d get to do anything fun or am I just going to sit here the whole time.”

  


“You are going home.” Howard was holding open the door to the room, already a step out of it. 

  


“I just got here. I thought I’d at least have time to spend with ol’ Aunt Peggy.”

  


“Tony, enough. I’ve had enough of your attitude today as is and I do really need to get back to work.” That must have been a new record, he’d hardly spoken more than a few sentences to his father and the man was already running a hand across his wrinkled face. 

  


“You couldn’t possibly be sick of me that fast, Dad. Could you?” His father looked exasperated, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance before he spoke,

  


“Tony—,” an odd noise like slithering electricity meeting with rumbling flames sounded so loudly Howard actually stopped himself. 

  


“What the…?” Howard pivoted quickly in his loafers to where his best guess at the direction of the irritating sound. Anthony could see the way ‘Fury’ went for the gun at his side, clicking it out ot the holster as he inched closer to the direction Howard was looking. 

  


“All available armed agents, be at the ready,” Fury ordered, face more serious than before which was saying something because this guy looked like a real buzz kill. The men and women in black stationed in the hall had reacted to his words swiftly and professionally, all facing the direction fury pointed to. Howard began inching forward just next to Fury and behind him, Anthony had found his opportunity to follow them, only a league or two behind.

  


Fury had reached the reception desk set behind the bowkeny looking down on the twins set of stairs to the first floor entrance. The receptionist there still looked rather confused by the noise but had a pistol in his hands already and cautiously nodded to his superiors. 

  


The angry looking bald man grabbed a microphone on the faux marble desk and clicked the side as a red light on its platform flicked on.

  


“I need at least four units of armed agents in the first and second floor of the west lobby.” His voice echoed through the room over the audio system. Anthony had enough of the building anticipation and just being confused at all the odd behavior and just asked what was on his mind,

  


“What’s going on? What’s that awful noi—,”

  


Then of course was when an impossibly strong wind dragged through the upper lobby they were in and below them, in the center of the entrance foyer, a blue and emerald cloud began to grow. It looked as if space was being ripped right in front of them, consumed by the cerulean and topaz clouds. Tony couldn’t believe his eyes. Tony’s mind was running wild with wonder and curiosity, little concern for the obvious threat at the moment. He could only hear a muffled conversation Fury was having to his left but was too entranced to pay much attention to the man. For once, his brain couldn’t process everything he was seeing fast enough. 

  


Anthony was sure that he was done admiring the pulsing phenomenon once it started throwing things up a little too close for comfort.

  


A mass of metal flew threw the opening in the air a few yards away, skidding into the synthetic floor panels. The thing, metal but in the shape of a man, actually groaned in pain at the landing. Another two figures joined it, also being thrust from the rip in space. One figure had a short bob of blonde hair and was dressed in an all black tactical uniform by the looks of it. The blonde was able to flip in the air and right herself, on one foot and one knee. Anthony could hear the metal of her staff scrape the ground as she pivoted back from where she had been thrown from. The last figure was clad in mostly red, that being some fitted coat with knee length tails that looked like some odd cape, dress, coat hybrid along with ebony black pants and boots, landed with a thud and a groan of pain on her side. Her long light brown hair covered her face as she pushed herself up despite the pain, wiping her head in the direction of the portal. 

  


“No, Vision!” she tried to yell above the odd warped noises coming from the mess of cool colored clouds. The way she shouted and shrieked the syllables made Anthony thought vision maybe a name. A weird one but a name nonetheless.

  


Within a moment, the woman in red appeared to conjure red wisps of light in her hands and gestured with a heaving breath towards the open gateway. Perhaps it was in some attempt to keep the portal open with her ‘magic’ but it seemed as though the force of it is far too strong for her in that moment. With one last shove of her red wisps, the woman in scarlet made a break back for the wormhole. 

  


Just as her hand was about to reach the phenomenon, horrific incoherent screams were heard.

  


A terrifying creature followed it as it slammed into the woman. It was hideous, like a gross alien dog with six arms and Anthony could only watch as the scarlet woman’s wisps gripped around the beast and flung it across the room and into the glass door, hitting the concrete wall behind it. It attempted to get up and two rounds were heard, hitting the thing in the head and it slumped over. The woman in black and the metal robot (or was it a person under there?) had already gotten to their feet and into fighting stances, a smoking gun held in the hand of the blonde woman.

  


There were more abominations on their way out of the wormhole. as the screeching howls pierced Anthony’s ears as tens of them lept out of the hole and rushed towards the occupants in the room. Thankfully, every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent already had a firearm handy and were firing as much as they could at the grotesque creatures.

 

  


The blonde took to shooting expertly placed bullets in the heads of any beast nearing her. One managed to get close enough to her that she swung her staff at it and it erupted with howls as blue sparks spun from the staff. As an extra measure, the woman pocketed her and slugged the thing in the face, causing it to shriek as a higher voltage of biting electricity fried it’s brain from a device on her wrist. The woman in scarlet threw red ribbons of energy that collided with some of the beasts, hoping to keep them down before she threw her hands to the side and the group of four beasts as tall as her followed suit. The metal man appeared to have a mini gun attached to his shoulder as it was taking quite a lot of the beasts out and what an odd day it was that Anthony found that much more comforting to his science inclined mind than the magic show. 

  


A huge problem was that the monsters just kept coming and flooded the area with their bodies, both living and bullet ridden corpses. They were advancing fast, their claws scuttling against the slick floor as they galloped forward, but Anthony’s body was locked into place, so in shock he couldn't rip himself from the scene. His father, on the other hand, had no qualms with taking a hold of Tony by the left wrist, pulling him back in the direction of the hub of sanctity they had come from. A very upset Agent Fury also followed their retreat, flanking them with a gun on his own in hand as he kept his eyes on the hall. The trio that had first exited the ripple in air were trailing them, taking down one monster after another. 

  


Anthony couldn’t see that much of those things now that he was running for his life, not that he wanted to, besides the screams of agents mixing in with the howls painted a vibrant enough picture to last him a lifetime. 

  


The rampaging things rammed their way into the elevator doors, leaving bent metal doors behind as a large group of them scrambled up the shaft. 

  


The metal man cursed under his breath. He could had sworn he heard the gray and silver man say his name and Tony felt something in his mind connect the voice as something familiar to him but before he could fully form the thought, the blonde spoke up,

  


“Fury, where are the rest? You’ve had other visitors like us, right?” 

  


Fury cocked his brow at the woman, eyes scrutinizing her for calling him out by name. Fury knew he hadn't had the opportunity to introduce himself yet so the most likely option was this was someone he would know.

  


“That’s classified,” he spoke as he grabbed another clip from his belt and shoved it into his gun, sounding calm with just an edge of irritation. Quite an amazing feat given the scenario they were all stuck in. 

  


“So that’s a yes. Good. We need to see the good Captain and the genius inventor and their company, if you’ll let us.” That seemed to spark an interest in Fury. 

  


“Usually I’d say know and ask questions and I still will but it appears as though those things, whatever they are, are making their way upstairs. I also take it they are not with you.” The woman in black caught on,

  


“No, those are not. I take it our friends are where those gross alien things are headed.” To Anthony, she looked frighteningly determined to get to whoever these ‘Captain’ and ‘Genius’ were. The woman held a professional gaze on the one S.H.I.E.L.D. operative with them and started a more pertinent line of questioning aimed at Fury,

  


“Are there any other elevators that can reach them?” Fury held her gaze for a moment longer before answering,

  


“Yes, but they’ll all be in lock down by now. There’s no way to access them from where we are and it’s quite a ways up.” The blonde’s head tilted a bit as she checked the number of bullets in her clip and reloaded her handgun. 

  


“We’ll manage. What’s the closest elevator up?” Fury actually managed to have a curious flicker in his eyes. He nodded towards the hole in the elevator doors closest to them,

  


“You’re looking at it.” The woman nodded and then called out to the member lingering in the open hall still firing on the intruding beasts,

  


“Rhodes, can you help open the doors?” 

  


“On it, Nat,” the suit of armor responded and, boy, that name had to be some sort of odd coincidence. This ‘Rhodes’ gave a rough tug at the left side of the elevator door and Anthony could hear the metal scrape as both sides jaggedly slid back. 

  


“Wanda, can you get us a lift?” Nat said, swiftly breaking her metal staff into two.

  


“No problem,” ‘Wanda’ said, and what a name for a witch, Tony mused to himself as he witnessed her sparks crawl down the open elevator shaft before she made a wide gesture with the upswing of her hands and the sound of creaking metal could be heard making its way closer to them.

  


Now that he could see them better, he could tell that the woman closer to his age, with her brows pulled in determination and focus, was obviously too occupied to answer any questions so he turned to the next closest odd arrival. Tony couldn’t seem to find words for a moment, oddly focusing on being able see the woman’s red brown roots now that she was close as something to distract his brain from all the crazy. Eventually, he did speak up,

  


“I’m sorry, but what just happened?” His voice sounded far more panicked than he thought he was though it still managed to have that trademark Stark edge to it. 

  


“Close your mouth, Stark, you look like a dying fish.” For a second, both Starks present looked to her before it became rather obvious that she was referring to Anthony, his mouth still agap. He closed it with a definite click.

  


“I'm sorry, have we met?” The decked out fighter turned her head just enough to have her eyes graze Anthony, giving the nineteen year old another calculated look.

  


“We will,” she had the hint of a smirk all the same, leaving the ominous message to hang there as it were. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Fury however took her attention before he could ask that aloud,

  


“I suppose now is not the time to ask where you came from?” 

  


“Not really, no,” she calmly supplied while shooting down more of her targets. After she had spoken was when the elevator carriage arrived at their floor, the same odd wisps grasping it as it creaked, wavering ever so slightly in its suspension.

  


“Get in,” the brunette ordered as she walked into the carriage with confidence. “Sorry in advance for breaking your elevator.”

  


“Those things broke it first.” Fury said, and given all of the five minutes he had known the man, he was sure this was probably the most playful he had ever and he still sounded ready to waterboard someone but was accepting the odd use of the elevator given what was happening. It was another first as his father silently filed in behind the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. 

  


“I’ll meet you guys upstairs. I’m going to keep as many as I can down here without destroying the integrity of the building. Besides, I’m pretty heavy to pull up in that thing,” Rhodes, the suit of armor called out behind him, as he was facing some rather nasty guests, shooting them left and right. Again, Anthony couldn’t help but be reminded of how similar he sounded to one of his friends. Really, his only real friend.

  


“Okay. But you’ll be sorry if you don’t follow through on that,” was the small threat laced sentence Nat chose to give the metal Rhodes.

  


“Don’t worry I’ll make it,” he assured, adjusting his right arm components, metal rumbling as he did so. With that there was only one person left to get on the ride.

  


“Tony, get in the lift,” the older Stark ordered. Howard looked to be amazingly worried for his son’s safety and well being for once. Go figure.

  


Anthony evaluated his options. He wasn’t all that sure it was safe, still obviously sceptical of the red wisps but it was a safer option than being eaten alive by those things. Still he was nervous.

  


“For Pete’s sake, Tony, we don’t have time for this. Let’s go,” he heard his father say again, more worry laced his voice than before but it was still firm and rigid. For some reason, his feet just wouldn't move. He was hesitating.

  


“I’m not so sure I want to go in that thing,” he eyed the energy around it, distrustful.

  


“Just get inside.” The bottle blonde leaned forward and gave him a rough shove into the small elevator, face flat and serious. “We’ll watch your back. It’s better than leaving you down here to fend for yourself.”

  


Once everyone but the amazingly futuristic metal man had boarded into the carriage, the blonde woman with the stern look in her eye spoke up, head inclined toward her younger companion,

  


“Send us up.”

  


And with that, the little red mage swung her hands down and they rocketed upwards so hard Tony had to grapple onto the railing in the wall. So much was happening that Anthony's brain oddly chose to focus on how hilarious this could have been if this were any other situation to see his father lose his poise and professional expression as he was forced to do the same. 

  


All Anthony could think of after that thought was that this was much more than he had signed up for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s young Tony been up to? Hmmm Looks like he’s a little over his head. What will time reveal to our cast next?  
> As always, shit’s about to go down. Again but this time with action for once. Very hard to write for me but still fun an exciting all the same. Hey its the chapter where i phone it in jk i tried really hard but I’m not sure how good this chapter is so im sorry if this is boring or confusing. I’ve been at work for the last few days and its destroying me. Let me know what you think though, that really helps, also let me know what direction you think it’ll go in or any ideas you have, I may incorporate them ;) I think I could have done the Peter shouting at Steve part better so maybe I’ll edit that soon.  
> Infinity war in this is obviously pan out different from how the movie is. I did just introduce someone who can mess with people’s minds so now we will see what I can allow time to do. Nat is amazing and Rhodey doesn’t get enough thanks so that boy is here <3 So a lot of you guessed right on those two showing up, we are thinking alike I see.


	11. Chaos Ensues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters reaches the top floor.

Bucky heard the knock. He knew it was Steve, he knew what those soft digits sounded like against a wooden door. But didn’t want to leave the room if he could help it even as an alarm started to scream out beyond the barrier between him and his lifelong companion. He didn’t answer Steve but the man said he was going to open the door, this time not waiting his usual beat before he turned the shining brass knob and widened the entrance enough to let himself in.

  


“Buck, I’m sure you heard but another portal opened.” Steve was waiting for an answer and the man who was once the Winter Soldier parted his lips to answer but then he heard something wrong, further away than Steve’s voice, and Bucky’s head snapped up.

  


There was something, no, many things scraping and screams scuttling closer to them. He held a hand out to stop Steve from speaking.

  


“Hold on, Steve,” Bucky stated as he rose from the bed to investigate. “Do you hear that? Something’s here.” Steve’s brow furrowed as he followed Bucky’s line of sight. The ex-Hydra assassin swiftly opened the sturdy wooden door in time to hear Peggy’s communicator go off,

  


…………..

  


An alarm suddenly began blaring from the hallway to the elevators causing everyone’s muscles to tense. Tony was quick to action and looked to Peggy for answers.

  


“Should we go check it out?” was Tony’s hurried question, turning to look Peggy in the eyes.

  


“No, Tony, you stay here. Fury is already on site. I’m sure they can handle it,” Peggy answered but the worry in her eyes tipped them all off to something more. Peter heard the hurried way Fury had spoken.

  


“What were you planning to do?” Peter murmured.

  


“I’m waiting for Agent Fury to tell me whether it’s safe or not.” Peggy pressed her lips together in thought before continuing,

  


“How did you hear my radio from all the way over there, Peter?” Peggy inclined her head, thoughts filling her head about his odd behavior and what it could mean. Peter wrung his hands nervously before he opened his mouth, looking unsure on how to answer but before she could hear anything resembling the truth, Barnes swung the door to his room open, brow furrowed as if he was listening to something troubling far from them. Her communicator also chose that moment to go off. Peggy clicked it on and spoke evenly,

  


“This is Director Carter, who is this?” She paused to let Fury’s voice once again ignite.

  


“Agent Fury, ma’am. Director Carter, we’ve got more visitors along with some hostile ones. I’m being told the hostile ones are alien to this world and are rabid. Those are the ones on their way to you. I’m on route to you via the southwest lift with help but the rabid ones will reach you first.” It was Fury’s voice and by the sound of it, they were about to be attacked.

  


“I copy, we’ll get ready,” Peggy spoke, voice serious as she looked to each time travel member in the room.

  


“Looks like we’ve got incoming then,” Bucky bit out. Unfortunately, he and Steve didn’t have their choice weapons back from the lab, so they would just have to make do. Bucky actually had two firearms on his person that hadn’t been confiscated before and he was glad he had kept them.

  


“Prepared for a fight,” Steve spoke up, marching towards the hallway door but not before he caught how Peter’s face had turned from worried to fierce, ready to protect his newfound family. The kid was something, that was for sure.

  


Tony didn’t need to be told twice. With a swift double click to his reactor, Tony’s armor smoothly crawled to encase him, his head filled with worry as the ends of his mouth turned further downwards. His mother and Jarvis were either too stunned or to worried to ask about the armor technology, able to feel the building anticipation in the room.

  


Steve, Tony and Bucky were the first to approach the hallway door, each cautious and professional as if the argument just a minute ago hadn’t happened. Bucky nodded at Steve, who then opened the door, Bucky’s gun was at the ready as he inched into the hall, trailed by Tony and then Cap. Peggy was the next out, handgun at the ready, but kept her body firmly in front of the suite door to prevent anyone else less armed from getting in the way of the fight for their own good.

  


A shockwave of sorts was felt, a rumbling was stirring from the corridor and elevator shaft and angry growling was heard before the shredding of metal. 

  


“What is that horrible noise?” Jarvis asked, his brows trapped with worry. Tony placed himself in front of his Mother and Jarvis, who had begun to peak their way to get a look, along with Peter just a few paces behind them.

  


From where the group had gone to investigate the sounds, the leads, Tony, Steve and Bucky, could see claws clamoring through the elevator doors with ease, revealing grotesque monsters emerged, breaking one of the doors at the entrance off its hinges. Peggy couldn't hold back her visceral disgust for the monsters waging a battle in her facility no less.

  


“Get behind me.” This is exactly what he hadn’t wanted, he didn’t want his mother in danger. His mother couldn't die because he brought her here. Not because of another one of his selfish, bad ideas. Tony had to think fast. Any explosives or missiles certainly wouldn’t work in these close quarters without a chance of hurting the non superheroes present.

  


“What on earth?” Jarvis gasped out.

  


“What are those things?” Maria spoke, eyes wide with fear as she looked around at the company around her.”

  


“We won't let them touch you,” Tony assured. 

  


“If I had to bet, they’re the aliens,” Tony inquired.

  


“Aliens are attacking us,” Jarvis said, dumbfounded. 

  


“Well, yes but there are good aliens too. Like Thor. Don’t let yourself think they’re all bad,” Peter assured, somehow still able to run his mouth in the midst of all the anticipation and tension. 

  


“That’s good to know,” Jarvis added, with a hurried nod.

  


“Where are your web shooters and armor, kid?” Tony called back in a panic, noticing how Peter had managed to wedge his small body through the adults and into the hallway.

  


“Shooters I’ve got,” Peter answered, two small latching noises were heard as Peter locked some black metal devices to his wrists. “Armor’s in the other room though.” As he spoke, the monsters broke through the metal barrier, running towards them. Tony shouted above their hisses and screams, repulsors firing on the things along with Bucky’s own dual pistols he earlier had hid on his person,

  


“Go get your armor, Pete. Mom, Jarvis follow—” The things were fast and one slammed into Tony’s head before he could blast it as another swept him off his feet. Peggy pushed Peter in the advised direction, ahead of him were Maria and Jarvis.

  


Peggy had gotten them backed into Tony and Pete’s suite, keeping herself between Jarvis, Maria and Peter and the oncoming rampage of alien things. Steve went for the head on, hand to hand approach and was doing his best to throw the things, punching them before Bucky was able to shoot them in the head, but with a sickening few cracks of wood, the doors were off their hinges. Peggy fired a few expert shots but there were more than she could take out with the small clip she had. She had to stop to reload and worry sprouted in Peggy’s chest as she quickly pulled out another clip, ready to fire at the monstrosities, only Peter was in front of her now. Her old age be damned, she wasn’t letting Tony’s son get hurt on her watch. She stepped forward with purpose and ordered for Peter to get behind her,

  


“Peter, move out of the way—” but to Peggy’s utter shock, Peter not only held back the beast but sent it flying several yards across the room into the adjacent concrete wall with the force a wrecking ball in the form of a punch to its face. With a strength far more than any teenager or human should possess without any technological help. It was a rather unexpected development for Peggy. Another thing ran towards her but Peter flicked his wrist, hitting a button on the ‘web shooter’ device and an elastic substance shot from it, grabbing on easily to the monster’s face. With a flick of his arm, the thing, now ferried by the rope, came flying towards him to which the teenager easily clocked it in the face with a sickening crack. He then flipped himself onto the kitchen countertop with one swift swing of his body, landing on his crouched feet, looking ready for a fight. He then addressed Peggy,

  


“I can handle myself, help Grandma and Jarvis!” Peter shouted and given what strength he just displayed, Peggy went along with it, nodding to the boy. Peter was somehow holding his own, fending off the things as she heard him miss one of the monster’s heads and his hand got imbedded in the concrete wall before he was able to yank it out to keep fighting. Tony, outfitted in his red and gold armor entered the room, used some sort of rockets on his hands and feet to fly himself with a boost of energy to Maria and Jarvis, hoping to be a shield for them. He shot at least four of the things down before he was hit across the room from one of the aliens ramming into his side before he could even process how fast the things were moving. A spike of fear ran through him as he tried to get back up back to his mother who had fallen down, struck by one of those haunting monsters.

  


Unexpectedly, it was Barnes who stepped between her and the beasts, firing off another few rounds from his pistol before it clicked, signaling it was empty. Bucky then changed tactics and swung his metal arm to hit one of the things that had gotten too close to him as he stabbed another with a combat knife he had been concealing. 

  


“Are you okay?” came his surprisingly soft voice but was still refusing to look up, not wanting to make eye contact with the woman he had killed but protecting her all the same. Maria nodded before she scrambled to her feet, assisted by Jarvis. 

  


Maria yelled in fear and shock as Bucky was then knocked to the ground but flung the center coffee table at the things with one swift movement of his left hand, easily hitting them dead on before he boosted himself off of the now ruined hardwood floor. Steve was already next to him, providing him some cover as he got his footing back.

  


With how swiftly he got back on his feet and back to form, Peggy looked rather impressed and had she not been preoccupied by the attack she would inquire about all the changes he had gone through to make him this efficient of a fighter.

  


Peggy moved closer to where Steve had stationed himself. She heard a young voice yell out and she whipped her head towards it.

  


Peter was being grabbed at the waist by one of those things and was thrown through the reinforced wall, some debris getting caught on his clothing as he coughed, surprisingly able to stand after that. The thing that threw him was easily hit by the shot of a repulsor blast from Tony’s right hand before Cap hit it into the ground two more times with his gloved fists. Cap got up to wipe some of the alien’s lifeblood from his chin, looking more than a bit disgusted.

  


“You good, kid?” Steve asked, he was a bit out of breath but his concern was still there. Peter heaved out an answer,

  


“Yah, I’m good. Just hurt a bit and— Cap, behind you!” Steve then turned around on his heel and placed a well aimed kicked one of things that tried to jump him, sending it right into Tony’s line of fire, who was all too happy to waste it. From what Peggy was able to see, they all worked together surprisingly well in a fight given their dysfunction as a group otherwise.

  


“How many more of those things are there gonna be?” Peter asked amongst the chaos, grabbing Peggy’s attention again. However, she had to look upwards to get a glimpse of the boy.

  


Peter’s sock covered feet were somehow able to bare him into the ceiling as he counteracted one monster’s attempt to clock him, throwing the thing in the opposite direction, leaving Peggy speechless, stopping in her tracks for a moment before instinct took over and she was back in fight mode. She would ask after this was over and they were all safe. These boys had a lot of explaining to do.

  


A wall of red fluid energy hit a group of three of the alien things and Peggy saw Steve look up from punching another invader, concern and relief muddling his expression, and a recognition that tipped her off to him knowing all too well who possessed that ability. 

  


…………

  


“Those things are called Outriders, they are mindless alien fighters that were released to attack us before we went through the portal. As you can see, they are vicious and mean and want to rip anyone to shreds. I think as long as the people we came looking for are with the company upstairs, we have a pretty good chance at beating the things,” the blonde informed the group in the elevator car, speaking loud enough to be heard above the scrapping metal of their rough transport but softly enough to maintain her cool exterior.

  


Fury nodded, his radio already in hand and intent on making a particular call. Of course the man was able to maintain his balance in the ride while also informing Director Peggy Carter about the identity of the things that had breached the facility.

  


With a rough jolt, the crew had made it to the top floor and Anthony wanted to puke. Only he was to frightened of the chaos around him to do so. They didn’t even need to open the elevator door all the way this time because they were torn to shreds.

  


“Come on,” the little red witch said as she exited. Fury was already on his way out, gesturing for Anthony and his father to follow. He mutely followed the group out of the elevator before it fell down a few stories with a loud crashing noise. The bulky man with long almond hair was able to fend off the things from the swirl of blue and green with an odd amount of ease, working quickly with the blond man to dismantle the threats. There was another suit of armor, this one gold and hot rod red with the same solemn faceplate, taking down the squealing things. 

  


Anthony was entranced by the scene that met them, a little too shocked by everything to do anything of use. His mother and Jarvis were also in the room, being protected by the second metal man, gold and red, and the man with long brown hair, a beard and was that a metal arm? That shouldn’t be what shocked him at this point as two other figures were in the middle ground, one with dirty blond hair and a beard beating the alien things senseless and the other was, oh god, it was his godmother, her sniper accuracy being turned on the aliens with a single pistol, mind you. Anthony often forgot how badass her background was.

  


The witch swept a few of the ‘Outriders’ off their feet and threw them against the plain concrete wall with a few cracks as the wall crumbled and broke at the impact, gaining the attention of Aunt Peggy and the blonde man, both looking especially relieved at the sight of backup.

  


What brought Anthony’s mouth falling to the ground was one of the people in particular who was, no joke, crouched on the ceiling. His father must have seen the same person as he was also looking upwards and his mouth spouted a, “What the fuck,” which was a very agreeable sentiment, Anthony thought. It was a kid, only a few years younger than him with a mop of brown hair who impossibly had his feet grounding him to the damn ceiling. The boy then grabbed one of the Outriders by the wrists with his bare hands, jumped down, and crushed it into the floorboards. For the moment, Anthony was too awestruck to move. And how could he not, everything in front of him went against most of what he knew about the world. Almost each member of the party apart from himself, Jarvis, and his parents were taking down monsters left and right without so much as batting an eye, almost like this was a normal every day routine for them. Anthony wasn’t going to lie to himself and say it wasn’t badass looking, because it was.

  


The witch girl had joined the fight easily enough, her coat tails billowing out behind her as she moved in closer, along with the bottle blonde, throwing and kicking their way through what must have been a nice condo before. There are only a handful more of those Outrider alien things left, nine of them, six are stalking his mother and Jarvis and four trying to tackle the new arrivals. Anthony, in the middle of his thoughts, is knocked off his feet and he feels stinging claws dig into his leg as he is dragged away from a shouting Howard Stark that tried to make a grab for Anthony but he just slipped through the old man’s fingers. He was being dragged away so scratch that, there were ten of those Outrider alien things left. Anthony was panicking, unable to grab onto anything as it flung itself and him along with it against glass, a window he thinks but he was so disoriented it's hard to tell. The kid from the ceiling is the one to break into action, as most everyone else is occupied with their own mongrol to fend off.

  


Something like white elastic shot from the device on his wrist, at least he hoped it was the device and not from his wrist itself, and it stuck to Anthony’s falling form. The only problem was he was still falling and, oh god, this was it for him, he was going to die not knowing what the hell was going on.

  


Anthony was shrieking but all of a sudden he felt himself stop falling, jolting up once before he began to sway, like he was a part of some involuntary bungee jump session. Then the kid was right next to him, standing sideways on the glass, because that made sense, and grabbed the Outrider thing that had clawed into Anthony by one of it’s too many arms.

  


He heard the kid cry out and Anthony swiveled his head to an uncomfortable angle in order to see that the thing had imbedded its teeth into the kid’s left forearm, sinking in the razor sharp points quite a ways and jeez it looked painful. He saw the kid suck in a breath before he used his right hand to smash in the Outrider’s ugly mug, sending it plummeting to the ground several stories downwards. Even in the darkening night sky, Anthony saw the thing jerk a bit to get up before getting shot three more times and had heard it from above and flipped his face upwards, now only realizing he was upside down himself, to see his godmother weilding a more robust gun before she handed it back to Fury and thanking him and Anthony caught the phrase, ‘for good measure,’ leave her lips.

  


Anthony squawked at the feeling of something grabbing around his torso before he realized this kid with short, swept walnut hair and brown eyes had grabbed him and began walking him back up along the windows to where he had been thrown out off. The kid was mindful of his feet as he overstepped the shattered glass, only having socks on his feet, a colorful pizza and soda design on them, and placed Anthony on the ground like he weighed nothing more than a pack of cards.

  


Aunt Peggy was hovering close to them, like at any moment she would have to catch their fainting forms. Anthony was really struggling to comprehend anything at this point but the sound of whirling of gears and the movement of metal made him turn his head away from the calculated look of the enigma in front of him.

  


The metal man, the red and gold one all but ran towards them, tapping something on his chest and the metal around him seemed to retreat into his chest piece which was endlessly fascinating to Anthony. With the armor gone, it revealed a worn man, the details of his face and likeness escaping Anthony as he moved past him to envelop the other boy in a bone crushing hug. This man with dark spiky hair and a goatee actually managed to breathe after a moment and with it came some fast and haggard words,

  


“Thank god you’re safe, Peter. If you ever try that again I’m going to kill you. Why on earth did you do that? That was way too risky. Next time put on your suit first before going into a fight, you hear me? I made that to protect you.” The man had tried to sound exasperated but with his head buried into the boy’s shoulder as he clutched onto him, he sounded more panicked with a wave of relieved than anything.

  


“Yes. It’s okay. I’m okay. And I will,” the kid promised, nodding as much as he could while also almost being crushed by the hug. The kid, ‘Peter,’ then added on some sort of explanation, waving his hand lazily in Anthony’s direction, “and well, I had to help that guy.”

  


“What guy? Who is that?” the man asked, finally realizing there was someone in danger besides the freakish, ceiling crawling kid. Anthony felt inclined to answer but his mouth could only make a gapping movement and his throat wasn’t producing any sound.

  


The man who was once encased in metal had looked over only for Anthony to be met with a face who looked far too much like his own for his liking, even with the acception of the wrinkles and trimmed facial hair. It sent his skin crawling as he heard a voice much like his own sound out two words that encased an odd feeling of anxiety and exasperation.

  


“Well, shit,” was all the man said for the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to post this before I forget to. Read in awe as I fail to write action scenes and wow that was a lot for me to keep track of. Thought I forgot they had superpowers there for a second didnt you. Outriders are the name of those hellish things that the Black Order let loose in Wakanda in IW just FYI. Rhodey will be here in the next chapter of the story I promise (I love that boy). Some badass Peggy for you. She can slay any day.  
> Any suggestions for how Tony should act towards Anthony and vice versa???? I’m having a crisis trying to figure out how their interactions would be. Any other suggestions for interactions (I do indeed have a few lined up for the future, I just would like some input outside of my own thoughts) Thank you all for reading so far and for all your lovely comments and kudos. Each one makes me so happy you don't even know. Again I tried my best on all of the action to make it clear but it was hard for me but feel free to let me know what you think.  
> Side note I just saw Ant-Man and the Wasp and was pleasantly surprised with how much I laughed. It also gave me a few ideas for my Dad Avengers fic I have so thats good. It will be a few days till the next chapter because of my work schedule thanks for sticking with me guys!


	12. An Interlude Before Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey appears and finds out Peter got hurt. Everyone just wants to be on the same page.

Silence stretched on long enough for it to be grossly uncomfortable for Anthony. Everyone else was just looking at him and the man, waiting for something. Peter’s eyes were wide as they swept over his face, this other Tony looked almost horrified at Anthony’s presence.

  


“Pete, you feel solid, right?” The kid patted his chest and head with his good arm before affirming that he was indeed there. 

  


“Yah, I think so?” Peter spoke the answer like a question, a bit unsure himself.

  


“Then this must have been something I have forgotten.” The man looked calculating as his last word had stretched as his eyes landed on Wanda. “I think we’re in a paradox, kid,” he breathed in a whisper in realization.

  


“Oh my god, is that you?” Peter gasped, eyes bulging as he took in the other young man in the room. His mouth was left agap as he looked between his father and the young version of his dad in awe.

  


“Yah. That’s what I was worried about,” Tony answered back, his eyes not leaving Anthony for a moment.

  


“This is so weird,” the kid added, he had yet to calm his shock any. Their ongoing quiet whispers were broken by another’s voice across the room.

  


“Antonio, what are you doing up here?” his mother gasped out as she strode over and she too greeted her son with a hug. He had only seen her an hour ago and yet still he felt like he really needed her presence. He skirted by the older Tony and the kid to meet his mother.

  


“Don’t know, those people had me follow them up here,” allowing himself to be engulfed in the motherly embrace, gesturing his head towards the two unique women fighters.

  


“Nat, Wanda, what are you doing here?” the blonde man asked. Anthony overheard one of those weird people he had met downstairs speak up.

  


“What does it look like? Helping your sorry ass. We’ll explain in a bit, Rogers. We need the whole party to be here first,” Nat, the bottle blonde, answered. The deadly blonde woman then brought her right hand up to her ear and spoke again into what Anthony presumed was an earpiece thought it was clear with small black etching on it, sticking next to her ear. “Rhodes, how’s it looking downstairs?” The sound of rockets were heard and more clanging from the elevator entrance, a dying screech was heard and a monster hurled passed the entryway to the suite. Then a very human voice rang out,

  


“Portal’s closed. All the Outriders downstairs are taken care of.” It was the first metal man speaking, walking into the aftermath of the little battle, somehow able to get all the way up there despite his metal weight and bulk.

  


“Thank god,” the witch took in a few deep breathe and let herself calm down a bit, shoulders falling as her hands fell on her knees.

  


“Gastly things, they are,” Jarvis added, straightening his blazer into something more presentable.

  


The kid sprang to life at seeing the silver metal man who proceeded to open up to reveal a man with deep coffee colored skin and an all too familiar face who then exited his metal confines with a grunt. As he left his metal shell, his mechanical exo legs sounded softly whirling away. He wore a ratty old grey tee shirt and some mechanical braces over his black pants and his eyes shone relief as he looked over the pair of genius superheroes.

  


“Rhodey? Didn’t think you’d be ripping a hole in the space time continuum just to see little ol’ me but what do you know,” Tony spoke up to his long time friend, now just a little more comfortable but still wondering what the new group’s arrival could mean. This older looking Rhodey’s expression changed to one of a long suffering hero able to out up with Tony’s bullshit but still hiding a smile under it all.

  


“Oh come off it, Tony. You know you’re not the only one I came here for.”

  


“I can’t help it. You know me too well, Rhodey,” Tony shrugged, loosening his grip on Peter.

  


“Uncle Rhodey?!” was Peter’s delayed response to the newly arrived Avenger. Tony found it in himself to roll his eyes as they kid he had just released from his grasp who was now bounding up to his Uncle War Machine.

  


“Calm down, kid. You see Rhodey like all the time.” Despite his annoyed expression, Tony seemed to relax in the presence of another familiar face.

  


“But not like this,” Peter exclaimed back to his dad before he engulfed Rhodey, mindful of the older man’s braces and his own injured arm.

  


“Hey, yah little rascal,” the pilot of the War Machine Armor ruffled Peter’s hair with his right hand. “How are you guys?”

  


“It was a shit show up here but we’re all okay,” Tony answered, blocking out the questioning looks from the rest of the occupants of the room.

  


“That sounds about right,” Rhodey nodded, letting go of Peter as he surveyed the gathered group. “I'm glad you guys are okay.”

  


“Thanks, Uncle Rhodey.” Peter shifted his weight from one foot to the other and again. Rhodey smiled as his gaze fell to Peter before it broke with concern,

  


“Wait. Oh my god, Pete. Your arm. Is your arm bleeding?” Tony’s face dropped all its levity as he strode over to his kid.

  


“Oh shoot. I didn’t even notice.” The Spider-Kid looked down at his arm surprised to see a few trails of red blood leaked from five deep slices into his right arm, an injury he had obtained when trying to save a younger version of his father, that was weird enough on its own.

  


“Didn’t notice? Blood is dripping on the floor, kid,” Tony breathed out, exasperated.

  


“Where’s your suit, Pete? Tony made that to protect you,” Rhodey added, looking around for a Spider-Man suit and failing.

  


“I was busy fighting. I meant to get it, just everything was happening so fast. I’m sorry.” Peter squeaked out as he shrugged. Tony sighed,

  


“That’s okay, kid. I just don’t like seeing you get hurt.” Tony ran a hand through his hair before turning to Peggy and Fury. “Do you have a first aid kit?” Tony asked, glancing hopefully at Peggy and Fury. Fury nodded and then shuffled over to the kitchen cupboards, retrieving a small shoebox sized container and handed it to Tony.

  


“Thanks,” Tony addressed the man absently before turning his concern and stress on Peter, who now was squirming looking a bit guilty. “Now are you hiding any more injuries?”

  


“No, I don’t think so?” Peter spoke unsure.

  


“Are you feeling alright kiddo? Are you hiding injuries?” Tony looked, pulling a face of concern mixed with a recognition of pain.

  


“No?” Peter shrugged, twinging as he thought, his right arm holding his left.

  


“See? I can tell that you’re lying again. Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?” Tony heard Rhodey snicker a bit behind him. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to parent a teenage superhero with a guilt complex?” Rhodey snickered some more but it not as though he was not worried about Peter.

  


“Here, I’ll help,” Nat offered. Tony looked wary for a moment before he allowed her to get close to Peter, figuring it was better to get Peter some medical attention than to get mad at Natasha. Natasha evaluated Peter as much she could with his suit on and actually managed to get him to admit he was hiding a few bruises. He was going to have to ask her how she was able to do that. It would make things a lot easier for him and his stress level. Tony was relieved that all injuries he sustained were superficial wounds, they were all just a few scraps and bruises that would heal up in a few hours given his kid’s healing factor.

  


Peter looked starstruck at the Black Widow but wary all the same. Natasha, being who she was, knew exactly what that was for. She spoke softly as she focused on wrapping Peter’s left arm,

  


“I did what I did so that no one on our team died. I’m not saying what I did was the best solution but for what it is worth I am sorry, Tony.” She turned back to the kid. “It’s nice to formally meet the second spider on the team. You’re Uncle Rhodey has told me some things about you. He, Potts and Tony are quite fond of you.”

  


“Oh wow, really?” Peter blushed.

  


“Of course,” she confirmed.

  


“What do you mean second spider? What's that supposed to mean?” Maria expression turned from worry to confusion.

  


“Hold up. Wait. Um… I for one would like to know what’s going on? What’s with the people with the freaky powers and shit?” Anthony could feel himself fluctuate between anxiety and anger. Had no clue as where to begin with his questions. Rhodey turned his gaze over at the version of Tony that was only been two years out of MIT and then he shared a look with his modern day version of the man.

  


“Well, we either profoundly messed up or this was supposed to happen,” Tony said ominously. 

  


“I’d actually like a real answer instead of that non answer bull,” Anthony spoke right back, just a bit hostile.

  


“I agree with Anthony. We all want answers,” Howard added, a bit more keen on staying professional than his son. Natasha quickly finished treating Peter’s arm before she stood up. Steve looked at Tony and Tony looked away, neither voiced any response to that.

  


“Now that we are all here, I think it would be appropriate to have a nice long talk about what’s happening. Preferably somewhere secure with less covered with alien guts.” Natasha said finally, giving a pointed look to each person present. Peter tilted his head a bit. Natasha had obviously taken charge of things in the absence of Cap and Tony’s ability to work together and stay on task.

  


“We can go to the suite next to this one while I call for another place to house all of you for the time being. I would like some answers as to what is going on,” Peggy just turned and led the way to the mostly unharmed half of the top floor. Natasha turned to follow the woman but stopped to add something to Peter, nodding down at him. “Nice shirt by the way.” Then she walked past him, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

  


Peter looked confused. Then he looked down and hard blushed. He had forgotten about his blue ‘Lettuce: The Taste of Sadness’ shirt with a little cartoon salad he had on as no one had bothered to comment on it before. He quickly zipped up his hoodie and followed suit with Tony protectively in tow.

  


While the large group made there way to the next room, eached paired off with those they felt most comfortable with, Peggy had delegated Fury to get reports from every sector of the headquarters about the assault. Finally they were going to get some answers. 

  


Peggy had a lot of questions. For Steve. For Tony. For Bucky. She of course wondered what was happening between Tony and Steve to make them act this way. Another was for Bucky. How he was able to fight like that, hand to hand with Steve in his strength. The metal hand he was sporting. She had a few for the new arrivals but the one that had her the most worried was what she had seen from Peter. How he reflexively was able to catch two hands of one of the Outriders had thrown his way and then swung a punch right in its face. She had seen the monster fell limp, a dent left in the concrete from a throw that should be impossible. It was abnormal for any teenage boy or person. She had passed the impression of his fist was left in the wall, from where Peter had swung and missed only for the concrete to give way under him instead of the other way around. What must have happened to that boy to cause him to be stronger than Steve as far as she could tell as well as some other abilities? It couldn’t be strictly technology like Tony had on. Peter didn’t have his red, gold and blue suit on like he had when he arrived. How could he have gained such abilities? She was hard pressed now to get the truth. She was going to get those answers now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there were a lot of things happening in my life this week so sorry the update didn’t come sooner. I also was in a rut about where to go because I accidentally lost a huge chunk of text for this story. But it’s okay. I rewrote most of it. I was like ‘I wonder when the new chapter is coming out’ then I was like ‘fuck I have to write it.’ I am sorry it was so short and not much happened but i’ve got to get my groove back. I wouldn’t dream of abandoning this so don't worry, I have a lot in store for this but I am moving houses this week and university will be starting again so it may be a little while before the next chapter is up. Hopefully not longer than two weeks, hopefully sooner than that.  
> There is a lot to the next chapter so this lull was the best I could do as I try to get back on my A game. Thank you all for your messages and sticking with me. There will be a lot of character interactions in a bit and a few you maybe didn't think I'd put in but we shall see in time.


	13. (Apology for Absence) Getting Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Settling down for a long talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Please read* I never wanted to be an author like this who gets your hopes up only for it to be an announcement but wanted to notify you guys why there hasn’t been a chapter in a while. I had to go to the hospital this week because I injured my back last week. I am in physical therapy now and am recovering slowly. The week prior I had also to move to a new city. The new college semester also started this week so chapters will be trickling in. I’m sorry about this but I need to focus on my health and university as much as I can. I do have some other things that I may post (mostly not Marvel) that I had saved up for a while but for this story I need a little time to get myself together. Thank you for understanding.

“What on earth are you doing here anyways?” Tony’s question was rhetorical but his best friend answered anyways as they settled in the suit vacant of destruction. 

  


“Trying to get you guys. I’ve got my armor set so that if any of those things come back it will fight them off after warning us.”

  


“You know I love you right, Rhodey?” Tony’s smile was kind as the skin next to his eyes crinkled. 

  


“Oh shut it, Tones.” Rhodey was smiling too as he said it though, waving his hand dismissively. With another whirl of his braces he too sat agreeably on the couch next to Tony and next to him was an anxious Peter. The Air Force veteran tries to focus on keeping the two company rather than think of the young Anthony staring at him. The rest of the Starks were staying remarkably silent.

  


A hand circled and rested on Peter’s shoulder, Tony able to feel his tension filled frame with the side hug alone. He didn’t want to think of the situation they were stuck in just yet, he wanted to know Peter was okay before any discourse happened.

  


“How are you, bud?”

  


“Fine, I guess…” Peter answered but his voice was small as he looked up to Tony. Tony smiled at him before he eyed the Iron Spider canister the boy was clutching with his good hand.

  


“Got your suit now? You keep that with you. I didn’t make it so you could leave it behind when you fight.”

  


On the other side of the living room, another conversation had started,

  


“What are you guys doing here? I guess you know how we got stranded here?” the blonde super soldier inquired anxiously.

  


“I’m glad you figured out why we’re here, Steve,” Natasha smirked, Wanda hovering next to both of them.

  


“This means there is a way back then?” Steve was anxious, that much was obvious. Bucky stood by Steve, watching him a bit concerned then back to Natasha.

  


“Just hold on, we’ll explain. But yes.” Natasha looked between the longlingly and sorrowful look the Steve gave Tony who was pointedly looking away from Cap’s entourage. She huffed out a small breath and spoke between the two other founding members of the Avengers.

  


“I’ve been friends with both of you for years. Don’t make me regret that and calm down, you stubborn idiots. We will need both of you when we get back.” She didn’t need to look to feel the confused raised eyebrows from the Starks from the past, Edwin Jarvis and Fury. She could see the amused one from the corner eye from Bucky, momentarily free of distress.

  


“Since when were we friends, you never told me that?” Tony deflected as Natasha just sent an annoyed glare his way. Underneath it, there was something more like regret hiding.

  


“She’s right. What happened with the Accords, it was a mess,” Rhodey confessed, “but this is bigger than any of us, we have to work together.” Tony gave out a large sigh as he looked down at his clenched fists, Rhodey placed a hand on his shoulder and it helped some.

  


Peggy waltzed in, closing the heavy wooden doors behind her.

  


“Okay. Let’s get started shall we.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a little thing to hold you over for a little while as consolation as I recover.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little self indulgent time travel thing that I plan on continuing as I do have ideas for it but not a real plot and I may just make it a new fic if I want to change the scenario too. Please let me know what you think.  
> I’m still working on the dad squad don't worry just this idea finally got written out after all the time I spent thinking about it. If you have any thoughts please let me know. I will be angling this with a father son relationship between Tony and Peter because of course.  
> Inspired by https://archiveofourown.org/works/14602635/chapters/33750195


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